BlockBefore

Key, Alabama

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Spring Garden census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35960. It stands on Strickland Branch. The Survey maps it on the Ellisville quadrangle. It stands 640 feet above sea level.

Key within Cherokee County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 18 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

272 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 272 fires within 5 miles of Key between 1992 and 2020, burning about 6,139 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 185 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/incendiarism185
Debris and open burning40
Missing data/not specified/undetermined28
Equipment and vehicle use8
Natural4
Smoking4
Fireworks1
Recreation and ceremony1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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 2016Arson/incendiarism6.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160908-11
7 September 2005Arson/incendiarism37 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined134 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160906-13
6 September 2005Arson/incendiarism15 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1997Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190905-13
5 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cherokee County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Key: 4 unknowns, 2 prospects, 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Aluminum, 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
Che 9 Clay ProspectClayProspect
Stubbs Hill MineAluminumPast Producer
Woodward Hollow Prospects 1AluminumProspect
Emmett Sharpe Iron PropertyIronPast Producer
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown

Every working recorded in Cherokee County

Storms near this place

2 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Key in 2 storm reports between 2011 and 2012: 2 thunderstorm wind. 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 2011Thunderstorm WindKey$15,000Strong winds resulted in significant structural damage to the New Bethel Church.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindKey-The tin on two barns was blown away near County Road 113 and County Road 34.

Every storm recorded in Cherokee 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
Noah2.4 miles19
Whorton2.4 miles19
Bomar2.5 miles18
Sandy Springs2.8 miles18
Tucker Crossroads3.0 miles19
Adams Crossroads3.0 miles18
Exie3.8 miles18
Ferguson3.9 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 KeyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q19986691The 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 121167. 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.