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Hobson City, Alabama

21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1900 and the latest in 2001. It stands in the Anniston census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36201. It lies near Washer Hill. The Survey maps it on the Oxford quadrangle. 759 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 728 feet above sea level.

Hobson City within Calhoun County

On record in Hobson City

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 within a mile 2 records

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Population over time

2 figures

Hobson City fell from 771 to 759 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
2010771
2020759-12 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 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.

Fires near this place

114 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 114 fires within 5 miles of Hobson City between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,066 acres in total. None started naturally. 42 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/incendiarism42
Debris and open burning36
Missing data/not specified/undetermined15
Recreation and ceremony11
Equipment and vehicle use4
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Smoking2

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
3 September 2002Arson/incendiarism20 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
22 September 2016Debris and open burning5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160922-14
18 September 1998Debris and open burning5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
16 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined30 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
16 September 1997Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
13 September 1998Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
12 September 1998Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 August 2002Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Calhoun County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 50 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 50 workings within 5 miles of Hobson City: 24 unknowns, 18 past producers, 7 prospects, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Aluminum, Kaolin, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Anniston PitsIron, ManganesePast Producer1875
Not Known, Ammiston AreaManganese, IronPast ProducerResidual
QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Lackey PitClayProducer
Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Shirey Prospect No 2MicaProspect
Shirey Prospect No. 2MicaProspect
Unnamed MineClayPast Producer
Carter Street DepositAluminum, KaolinProspect

Every working recorded in Calhoun County

Storms near this place

20 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Hobson City in 20 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 10 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 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
February 2009Thunderstorm WindHobson City$15,000Winds estimated up to 65 mph produced a roughly half mile radius swath of damage southeast of the city of Anniston. The most concentrated damage was near the intersection of Greenbrier Dear Road and Birchwood Drive. Several homes were damaged on Birchwood Drive, mainly due to fallen trees landing on the homes. A few trees were uprooted and many tree limbs were broken off. No injuries or fatalities were reported.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindHobson City$500Trees were downed across Main St and E 3rd St in Oxford.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindHobson City-Trees and power lines were downed on Alice St in Oxford.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindHobson City-Several trees were blown down around Oxford, with at least one on a house.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindHobson City-Multiple trees and power lines were downed in the Oxford area.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindHobson City-Multiple trees uprooted and power lines downed in Oxford.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindHobson City-Power lines downed at the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Washington Street.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindHobson City-Several trees uprooted and power lines downed along Luttrell Street in the city of Oxford.
January 2013Flash FloodHobson City-Local police reported Hale St and Elm St in Oxford were flooded and considered to be dangerous.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindHobson City-Trees and powerlines were reported down along Martin Luther King Drive.
February 2009HailHobson City-Reported in the Golden Springs area, east of Anniston.
June 2022HailHobson City-no account filed
March 2018HailHobson City-no account filed
March 2018HailHobson City-no account filed
April 2017HailHobson City-no account filed
July 2012HailHobson City-no account filed
July 2012HailHobson City-no account filed
May 2010HailHobson City-no account filed
May 2008HailHobson City-no account filed
May 2008HailHobson City-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Calhoun 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
Oxford0.7 miles21
Lardent0.8 miles21
Woodland Park1.3 miles19
Lakeview1.3 miles21
Jo Dell1.4 miles21
Forest Hills1.7 miles21
West End Anniston1.9 miles19
Oxanna1.9 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 Hobson CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q66875The 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 159780. 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.