Lester, Alabama
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1936 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Salem census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35647. It stands on Hulsey Branch. The Survey maps it on the Union Hill quadrangle. 111 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 814 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresLester grew from 111 to 111 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 111 | |
| 2020 | 111 | 0 (0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 14 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1936 USGS Union Hill quadrangle1:24000
- 1948 USGS Union Hill quadrangle1:24000
- 1951 USGS Union Hill quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Tuscumbia quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
48 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 48 fires within 5 miles of Lester between 1995 and 2019, burning about 229 acres in total. None started naturally. 10 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 burning | 26 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 10 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 acres | Tennessee Division of Forestry | not named |
| 5 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Tennessee Division of Forestry | not named |
| 20 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3.5 acres | Tennessee Division of Forestry | FORK OF THE ROAD |
| 16 September 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.5 acres | Tennessee Division of Forestry | not named |
| 31 August 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Tennessee Division of Forestry | not named |
| 30 August 2011 | Debris and open burning | 15 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | MONDAY ROAD, AL |
| 26 August 2006 | Debris and open burning | 4.0 acres | Tennessee Division of Forestry | not named |
| 5 May 2001 | Debris and open burning | 5.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Lester: 2 past producers, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Phosphorus-Phosphates. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monsanto Phosphate Deposit No.46 | Phosphorus-Phosphates | Unknown | ||
| Prospect Number 2353 | Phosphorus-Phosphates | Past Producer | ||
| Prospect Number 2353 | Phosphorus-Phosphates | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
7 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lester in 7 storm reports between 2001 and 2018: 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lester | - | Tree damage reported near Lester. |
| March 2012 | Hail | Lester | - | Quarter sized hail was reported. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lester | - | Damaging straight-line winds knocked down 2 trees near the Tennessee state line between Salem and Lester. |
| May 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lester | - | Two trees and numerous large limbs were blown down by thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lester | - | Several trees were blown down by thunderstorm winds associated with a line of severe thunderstorms moving southeast through the county. |
| October 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Lester | - | A F-0 tornado with maximum wind speeds at 60 mph touched down and destroyed a few trees and power lines. |
| June 2001 | Hail | Lester | - | Dime to nickel size hail was reported in Lester. The hail covered the ground and collected up to a depth of 20 inches. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scarce Grease | 1.8 miles | 14 | |
| Union Hill | 2.7 miles | 14 | |
| Clifton (historical) | 2.7 miles | 15 | |
| Gourdsville | 3.3 miles | 15 | |
| Good Springs | 3.7 miles | 14 | |
| Mount Rozell | 3.9 miles | 14 | |
| Salem | 4.1 miles | 15 | |
| Ridgway Mill | 4.3 miles | 14 |
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 Lester | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q67946 | The 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 121506. 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.







