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Harpersville, Alabama

21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Vincent census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35078. It stands on West Fork Tanyard Branch. The Survey maps it on the Harpersville quadrangle. 1,614 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 456 feet above sea level.

Harpersville within Shelby County

On record in Harpersville

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 3 records

Surveyed buildings and structures 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Harpersville fell from 1,637 to 1,614 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
20101,637
20201,614-23 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 21 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.

Photographs

2 photographs,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

The Rock House, U.S. Route 280 (State Route 38), Harpersville, Shelby County, AL
The Rock House, U.S. Route 280 (State Route 38), Harpersville, Shelby County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
William Chancellor House, Chancellor Crossroads, Harpersville, Shelby County, AL
William Chancellor House, Chancellor Crossroads, Harpersville, Shelby County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

142 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 142 fires within 5 miles of Harpersville between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,901 acres in total. None started naturally. 51 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
Arson/incendiarism51
Debris and open burning45
Missing data/not specified/undetermined21
Recreation and ceremony8
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Equipment and vehicle use4
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Other causes3
Smoking2
Fireworks1

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
7 September 1995Debris and open burning5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1995Arson/incendiarism25 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 2016Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160929-30
25 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry CommissionNER-20140925-002
25 September 2005Arson/incendiarism58 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
24 September 2019Debris and open burning5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190924-13
23 September 2010Other causes1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 2010Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Shelby County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Harpersville: 5 past producers, 3 unknowns, 2 prospects, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Barium-Barite, Iron. 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
F P Cater Iron Ore ProspectIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
Luther Davis MineBarium-BaritePast Producer
Luther Davis PropertyBarium-BaritePast ProducerResidual
R P Tucker ProspectBarium-BariteProspect
T C Elliott ProspectBarium-BariteOccurrence
T S Florey ProspectBarium-BariteProspect
T. J. FloreyBarium-BaritePast ProducerResidual
W W Wyatt MineBarium-BaritePast Producer

Every working recorded in Shelby County

Storms near this place

18 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Harpersville in 18 storm reports between 1997 and 2026: 11 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 1 funnel cloud, 1 flash 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
August 2000Thunderstorm WindHarpersville$45,000Numerous trees were knocked down in and around the city of Harpersville. One mobile home was blown off its foundation. One mobile home was rolled over several times and many outbuildings were destroyed. Some of the trees fell onto homes. There were no reported injuries.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindHarpersville$5,000Debris was spotted on the roadway on US 280 just east of Harpersville. Trees and powerlines were also blown down.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindHarpersville$4,000A few sheds and other small buildings were damaged or destroyed near Harpersville.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindHarpersville$2,000A large oak tree, and several other trees, were blown down on AL-76, northeast of Wilsonville.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindHarpersville$2,000Numerous trees were blown down at Sun Valley Road and County Church Road.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindHarpersville$1,000Several trees were blown down in Harpersville.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindHarpersville$500A tree fell across AL-25, near Harpersville Fire Department.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindHarpersville-A tree was downed on Sun Valley Rd near Harpersville.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindHarpersville-Trees and power lines were blown down on Highway 25 south of Harpersville.
December 2024Tornado (EF1)Harpersville-NWS Birmingham storm survey determined a brief EF-1 tornado impacted an area northwest of Harpersville, mainly on El Gezira Road north of U.S. Highway 280. The tornado caused damage to a horse farm, impacting at least four structures. Varying degrees of timber damage were also observed with trees uprooted and large branches removed. The tornado caused additional damage near Prince Road, dissipating near Highway 83. Maximum estimated winds were 90 mph.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindHarpersville-Powerlines were down on vehicles in Harpersville.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindHarpersville-Several trees were reported down along Klein Road, as well as a wooden business sign.
June 2012HailHarpersville-A wheat field along Dead Hollow Road South suffered damage due to the hail.
June 2012Flash FloodHarpersville-Highway 25 in Harpersville was made impassible due to flowing water.
April 2009HailHarpersville-Hail up to quarter size was reported at Morgan Creek winery, in Harpersville.
July 2002HailHarpersville-Dime to quarter size hail was reported just east of Harpersville on CR 85. One very large pine tree was knocked down and several large limbs were broken during this same storm.
May 2001HailHarpersville-Dime size hail was observed in Harpersville.
June 1997Funnel CloudHarpersville-A funnel cloud was reported near Harpersville.

Every storm recorded in Shelby 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
Gallups Crossroads1.3 miles21
Abbot Springs2.6 miles21
Arkwright2.7 miles21
Creswell3.1 miles21
Vincent3.1 miles22
Chancellor Crossroads3.9 miles21
Klein4.2 miles21
Erratta4.6 miles19

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 HarpersvilleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q67550The 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 119777. 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.