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Irondale, Alabama

30 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Birmingham census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35210. It lies near Sandstone Ridge. The Survey maps it on the Irondale quadrangle. 13,497 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 741 feet above sea level.

Irondale within Jefferson County

On record in Irondale

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

Surveyed buildings and structures 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Irondale grew from 12,349 to 13,497 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
201012,349
202013,497+1,148 (+9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 30 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

1 photograph,

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.

Norris Steam Restoration Shop, Norris Yards, east of Ruffner Road, Irondale, Jefferson County, AL
Norris Steam Restoration Shop, Norris Yards, east of Ruffner Road, Irondale, Jefferson County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

36 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 36 fires within 5 miles of Irondale between 1996 and 2020, burning about 674 acres in total. None started naturally. 14 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/incendiarism14
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Debris and open burning4
Recreation and ceremony3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
29 September 2016Recreation and ceremony6.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160929-6
28 August 2011Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission618 CR 126, AL
25 August 2011Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commission2386 CR 65, AL
22 July 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.2 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionCR 6 & CR 81, AL
19 July 2000Arson/incendiarism25 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
17 July 2000Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
2 June 2011Equipment and vehicle use350 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionCR 45 ( N OF 27), AL
19 June 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionCALLAHAN RD, AL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jefferson County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 15 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Irondale: 12 past producers, 2 unknowns, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Dolcito QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Alfretta MinesIronPast Producer1903
Alfretta No. 2 MineIronPast Producer
Alfretta No. 3 MineIronUnknown
Alfretta No. 4 MineIronPast Producer
Alfretta No. 5 MineIronPast Producer
Bald Eagle MineIronPast Producer
Hammond MineIronPast Producer
Hammond, Dago, Hendona, and Valleyview MinesIronPast ProducerHematite
Helen Bess MineIronPast Producer

Every working recorded in Jefferson County

Storms near this place

7 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Irondale in 7 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 3 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 dust devil. The reports record 2 injuries. 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
June 2025Thunderstorm WindIrondale1 hurtMultiple trees were downed around Irondale, with some falling on homes. One tree fell on a home along Redwood St, resulting in an injury.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindIrondale1 hurtA large tree uprooted and landed on a house on Lawrence Street in the town of Irondale. Residents became trapped inside the home and had to be rescued. One resident transported to local hospital with minor injuries.
April 1995Thunderstorm WindIrondale$35,000A wind gust to 60 mph was reported by a television station located on Red Mountain overlooking downtown Birmingham. The local emergency management office reported trees and power lines down around the city and county. In Irondale, the roof was blown off an electronics store. In Fairfield, numerous buildings sustained minor damage in the Fairfield Heights and Rutledge Hills areas. Glass doors were blown out and skylights were damaged at Western Hills Mall. A tree reportedly fell on a car in Ketona and the occupant was briefly trapped. Alabama Power reported 38,400 people were without power at one point. In Ensley, a man died in a house fire that apparently started when candles were used while the electricity was out. In the Leeds area, a woman was briefly trapped in her house when a tree fell on it.
April 2005HailIrondale$1,000Penny size hail was reported in Irondale.
June 2025HailIrondale-Quarter-size hail was reported near I-20 and Oporto Madrid Blvd.
August 2007Dust DevilIrondale-A dust devil was reported near Eastwood Mall. It had an estimated height of 250 feet, and lasted several minutes.
June 2006HailIrondale-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Jefferson 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
Five Points East0.5 miles30
Springdale0.7 miles30
Ruffner0.8 miles30
Marks Village1.0 miles30
East Irondale1.1 miles30
Holiday Gardens1.1 miles30
Stoneridge1.1 miles30
Central Highlands1.2 miles30

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 IrondaleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q79454The 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 120702. 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.