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Gurley, Alabama

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Gurley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35748. It stands on Gurley Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Moontown quadrangle. 816 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 640 feet above sea level.

Gurley within Madison County

On record in Gurley

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Gurley grew from 801 to 816 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010801
2020816+15 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 22 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

35 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 35 fires within 5 miles of Gurley between 1997 and 2016, burning about 311 acres in total. None started naturally. 9 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning14
Arson/incendiarism9
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Smoking3
Equipment and vehicle use3

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 1998Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
8 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
26 September 1999Smokingunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
16 September 1999Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
14 September 1998Debris and open burning20 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
29 August 2001Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
17 August 2007Smoking27 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
20 July 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Madison County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Gurley: 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Elm 1 Clay ProspectClayProspect

Every working recorded in Madison County

Storms near this place

34 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gurley in 34 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 14 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 6 flash flood, 5 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2006HailGurley$100,000Baseball size hail occurred in this vicinity and was measured at four to five inches deep. Extensive tree damage was also noted along with slight to moderate damage to several vehicles and seven residences.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindGurley$20,000A mobile home was blown off a trailer transport.
June 1996LightningGurley$20,000no account filed
June 2011Thunderstorm WindGurley$12,000Trees and some power lines were reported down from Gurley to the eastern edge of the county.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindGurley$8,000Trees were blown down near the intersection of highway 72 and Gurley Pike.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindGurley$6,000Public report received via social media of several trees down on Keel Mountain Road near the intersection of Laurel Lane. There was also one tree that fell on a home. Time estimated by radar.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindGurley$5,000Power lines were reported knocked down from Childress to Jackson roads.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindGurley$2,000A tree was blown down at 791 Gurley Pike.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindGurley$2,000A few power lines were downed by thunderstorm winds in the Salty Bottom Road area near Gurley.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindGurley$1,000A tree was reported down on Chruch Street. Time estimate from radar.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindGurley$1,000Trees were snapped at 351 Old Gurley Pike.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindGurley$1,000A tree and power line was knocked down on Gurley Pike.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindGurley$500A tree was knocked down on utility equipment at Keel Mountain Road in Gurley.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindGurley$500A tree was knocked down in Gurley.
July 2023HailGurley-Penny sized hail was reported in Gurley.
June 2023HailGurley-Hail larger than a quarter was reported in Gurley. Time estimated by radar.
March 2021Flash FloodGurley-Car submerged at Rock Road at Hwy 72. Water was flowing over the roadway, but depth of water unknown at this time.
October 2021Flash FloodGurley-Flooding reported along Little Cove Road.
September 2021Flash FloodGurley-Car submerged on Hwy 72 between Gurley and Paint Rock. Image seen on social media.
September 2021FloodGurley-Video of roads flooded on social media at the intersection of Rock Cut Road and U.S. Highway 72 in Gurley.
March 2018FloodGurley-McMullen Lane at Old Cove Place are covered with water. Flooding is from heavy rainfall, not river flooding just yet.
March 2018FloodGurley-Little Cove Road being closed due to floodwaters from the Flint River covering the roadway.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindGurley-A 30 by 40 foot section of metal roofing was blown onto the intersection of Miller and Gray Roads in Gurley.
January 2011Flash FloodGurley-Heavy rainfall caused some roads to be impassable in and near the Gurley community. A car was stranded as it drove into a flooded roadway southwest of Gurley. Rock Cut road was closed due to flash flooding in the same area.
January 2009FloodGurley-Heavy rainfall caused isolated flooding to occur in the Gurley area near and at the intersection of highway 72 and Cut Rock Road.
January 2009Flash FloodGurley-Heavy rainfall caused flash flooding to occur at the intersection of Little Cove Road and McMullen Road, leaving the intersection completely underwater.
December 2008FloodGurley-Moderate to heavy rainfall atop already saturated soils produced renewed flooding on small creeks and streams in central Madison County in and around the Hampton Cove community. Little Cove, Cherry Tree, and Bailey Cove Roads experienced flooding. Little Cove Road was impassible during much of this period.
August 2008HailGurley-Penny sized hail was reported in Gurley.
August 2008HailGurley-Golf ball size hail was reported by the Gurley Fire Department.
April 2006HailGurley-Quarter size hail was reported.
February 2005HailGurley-Golf ball size hail reported.
July 2005Flash FloodGurley-Torrential rain from a thunderstorm resulted in several inches of water covering roads.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindGurley-A few power lines were blown down.
July 1995HailGurley-Golf ball-size hail was reported in Gurley in east-central Madison County.

Every storm recorded in Madison County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Sublett Mill2.3 miles22
Moontown4.8 miles22
Brownsboro4.8 miles22
Berkley5.1 miles22
Cherrytree5.3 miles22
Maysville5.5 miles24
Dug Hill6.0 miles22
Big Cove6.4 miles22

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on GurleyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q67451The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 119509. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.