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Joppa, Alabama

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Baileyton-Joppa census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35087. It stands on Berry Creek. The Survey maps it on the Hulaco quadrangle. 556 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,014 feet above sea level.

Joppa within Cullman County

Population over time

2 figures

Joppa grew from 501 to 556 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
2010501
2020556+55 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 20 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

30 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 30 fires within 5 miles of Joppa between 1998 and 2019, burning about 132 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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 burning15
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Arson/incendiarism3
Smoking2
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
8 September 2006Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1998Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
26 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190926-6
25 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
24 September 2016Debris and open burning1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160924-20
24 September 2010Smoking6.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
24 September 2010Debris and open burning26 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
14 September 2018Debris and open burning15 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20180914-2

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cullman County

Storms near this place

20 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Joppa in 20 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 3 tornado, 1 flash flood. The reports record 6 deaths and 130 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
February 1995Tornado (F3)Joppa6 killed, 130 hurt, $5,000,000A tornado began in the extreme northeast part of Cullman County about three miles west of Joppa in a rural area. The tornado travelled east-northeast through Joppa and across Alabama Highway 69 crossing into Marshall County just southwest of Arab at 5:06 am CST. Continuing on an east-northeast track, the tornado crossed the southern side of Arab crossing U.S. Highway 231 at 5:08 am. The tornado moved into increasing rugged terrain as it moved east of Arab, dissipating at the Browns Creek section of Guntersville Lake just north of the Diamond community. Six people were killed in the tornado, five in Marshall County and one in Cullman County. One death occurred in a house and the rest in mobile homes. There were 130 injuries though it is impossible to specify how many occurred in each county. The Joppa area of Cullman County and the Arab area of Marshall County were the most heavily populated areas affected by the tornado with some of the worst damage occurring in these areas. Officials reported that 77 dwellings and six businesses were destroyed in Cullman County while 80 dwellings and six businesses were destroyed in Marshall County. In the city of Arab, there were 30 to 35 homes destroyed or heavily damaged along with 30 to 35 mobile homes. A pregnant woman severely injured in her mobile home in the tornado was sent into labor early, but the baby died at birth. F04H, M49M, M36M, F70M, F88M, M0M
April 1998HailJoppa$20,000no account filed
June 2011Thunderstorm WindJoppa$15,000Several trees were knocked down. Two homes lost metal roofs and one lost a utility room roof.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindJoppa$12,000Trees were knocked down onto CR 1856.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindJoppa$10,000Numerous trees were snapped and knocked down. Two front porch metal roofs were torn off.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindJoppa$10,000Structural damage due to thunderstorm winds along County Road 1763, 2 miles east of highway 231 in Thrasher Crossroads. Damage was to two homes, with a tin roof blown off of one. Power poles were snapped.
April 1998HailJoppa$5,000Half dollar size hail was reported in Joppa.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindJoppa$2,000A tree was blown down and blocked CR 1807 near where it intersected CR 1755.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindJoppa$1,000Several trees were blown down near Joppa.
May 2025HailJoppa-A COOP observer reported golf ball size hail at this location. Time was estimated from radar.
March 2021Flash FloodJoppa-Water over the bridge on CR1755 near Hwy 67. Depth of water unknown.
April 2021HailJoppa-One inch hail report from mPING.
January 2020Tornado (EF1)Joppa-The tornado caused damage to structures, and numerous trees were snapped or uprooted along Highway 69, landing on a few homes. Tornado damage was rated up to EF-1 in the city of Joppa, with wind speeds of 100 mph. Trees were snapped and |uprooted along Highway 69, causing minor structural damage.
January 2020Thunderstorm WindJoppa-Numerous reports of damage along Highway 69 near Joppa.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindJoppa-Damage to a barn and chicken houses near CR 1802 near Joppa.
March 2015HailJoppa-Quarter sized hail was reported.
April 2011Tornado (EF0)Joppa-This tornado initially touched down northeast of CR 1850 in Cullman county. It snapped numerous hardwood and softwood trees along it's path in this location. The tornado then quickly moved northeast into Marshall county, where it continued it's path into Marshall County.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindJoppa-Several trees were blown down along Highway 231 and along County Roads 1807, 1814, and 1815.
May 2003HailJoppa-penny size hail reported.
May 2003HailJoppa-golf ball size hail reported

Every storm recorded in Cullman 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
Union Hill2.3 miles20
New Canaan3.4 miles24
Baileyton3.9 miles20
New Harmony4.0 miles19
Thrasher Crossroads4.2 miles24
Brooklyn5.9 miles19
Birdsong6.0 miles17
Union Grove6.6 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 JoppaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1275050The 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 121033. 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.

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.