BlockBefore

Leesburg, Alabama

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Leesburg census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35983. The Survey maps it on the Leesburg quadrangle. 911 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 610 feet above sea level.

Leesburg within Cherokee County

Population over time

2 figures

Leesburg fell from 1,027 to 911 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
20101,027
2020911-116 (-11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 19 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

171 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 171 fires within 5 miles of Leesburg between 1994 and 2019, burning about 3,275 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 90 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/incendiarism90
Debris and open burning43
Missing data/not specified/undetermined24
Equipment and vehicle use6
Smoking6
Natural1
Other causes1

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
4 September 1998Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 2007Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined26 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160903-2
29 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry CommissionNER-20120929-001
28 September 2016Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160928-9
26 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
26 September 1999Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
23 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commission20190923-17

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 Leesburg: 3 past producers, 3 occurrences, 2 prospects. 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
Barfield Bauxite MineAluminumPast Producer
Che 7 Clay ProspectClayProspect
Round Mountain MineIronPast Producer
Round Mt. MineIronPast ProducerHematite
Unnamed ProspectIronProspect
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence

Every working recorded in Cherokee County

Storms near this place

25 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Leesburg in 25 storm reports between 2001 and 2026: 13 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 3 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. 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
January 2007Thunderstorm WindLeesburg$50,000A mobile home received substantial damage. A sign was blown down, and a roof was damaged, near the intersection of Highways 68 and 411.
August 2010Flash FloodLeesburg$8,000Several road closures required in and around Leesburg, including County Road 44, due to high water.
February 2011Thunderstorm WindLeesburg$6,000A barn collapsed off of County Road 167 and a home had minor damage.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindLeesburg$5,000Several trees and power lines were blown down in Leesburg.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindLeesburg$3,000A large tree was blown down and blocked the roadway, near CR-7 and Weiss Dam. One home along CR-20 suffered shingle damage.
June 2010Heavy RainLeesburg$2,000Heavy rain resulted in street flooding near the intersection of CR 44 and highway 273.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindLeesburg$1,000Trees were blown down in Leesburg.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindLeesburg-Trees were downed in the Leesburg area.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindLeesburg-Multiple trees were downed in the Leesburg area.
August 2025Flash FloodLeesburg-Multiple reports of flooded roadways and water impacting residences in Centre. Hardwood Hills Dr was flooded, with homes surrounded.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindLeesburg-Numerous trees and a few power lines were downed around Leesburg and Sand Rock north of Weiss Lake. Trees were downed on County Road 136, CR 47, and Highway 273 near Tuckers Chapel. Trees were also downed on CR 50, CR 36, CR 146, and Thompson Circle. A tree fell on a house along Valley Acres Rd, while another tree fell on power lines and an unoccupied home on Embos Island St.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindLeesburg-Several trees uprooted across U.S. Highway 411.
March 2021Flash FloodLeesburg-Flash flooding along Highway 411 and across numerous roadways around the county.
February 2020FloodLeesburg-Water covering County Roads 55 and Highway 411.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindLeesburg-Several trees uprooted in and around the town of Leesburg.
March 2018Thunderstorm WindLeesburg-Several trees uprooted in and around the town of Leesburg.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindLeesburg-Several trees uprooted near the town of Leesburg.
April 2015Tornado (EF0)Leesburg-A weak tornado touched down in extreme northwestern Cherokee County just northwest of the city of Leesburg. The tornado touched down along Keener Dr, west of state road 68, uprooting and snapping multiple hard and softwood trees. One of the larger hardwood trees unfortunately fell into a residence causing substantial damage to both the home and vehicle. Just further downstream, a barn was also destroyed by an uprooted tree along Bristow Gap Rd. The tornado was also at its widest point here of approximately 200 yards. The tornado continued north-northeast crossing State Road 68 causing damage to additional trees. The tornado lifted near the intersection of County Road 166 and County Road 670, but not before causing some minor porch and siding damage to another residence. Estimated peak wind was 80 mph.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindLeesburg-Numerous trees uprooted in the town of Leesburg. Minor damage to a barn and a house in Leesburg.
June 2005HailLeesburg-Penny size hail was observed at a mountain top bed and breakfast near Leesburg.
May 2003HailLeesburg-Quarter size hail was observed along the Etowah-Cherokee county line just south of US 411. The hail may have been larger in surrounding rural communities.
March 2017HailLeesburg-no account filed
April 2009HailLeesburg-no account filed
May 2008HailLeesburg-no account filed
April 2006HailLeesburg-no account filed

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
Mountain Lake Estates1.0 miles19
Weiss Dam1.1 miles19
Lookout Valley Acres1.2 miles19
Griffin1.4 miles19
Bristow1.4 miles19
Ewing1.6 miles19
Mackey1.6 miles19
Anderson1.7 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 LeesburgAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q66420The 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 152019. 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.