BlockBefore

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.

Lester within Limestone County

Population over time

2 figures

Lester 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.

YearPeople Change
2010111
20201110 (0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 14 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

48 since 1995

Regional 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 burning26
Arson/incendiarism10
Equipment and vehicle use4
Recreation and ceremony2
Smoking2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Other causes1
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
5 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined25 acresTennessee Division of Forestrynot named
5 September 1999Debris and open burning1.0 acresTennessee Division of Forestrynot named
20 September 2007Debris and open burning3.5 acresTennessee Division of ForestryFORK OF THE ROAD
16 September 1999Equipment and vehicle use1.5 acresTennessee Division of Forestrynot named
31 August 1999Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresTennessee Division of Forestrynot named
30 August 2011Debris and open burning15 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionMONDAY ROAD, AL
26 August 2006Debris and open burning4.0 acresTennessee Division of Forestrynot named
5 May 2001Debris and open burning5.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Limestone County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Monsanto Phosphate Deposit No.46Phosphorus-PhosphatesUnknown
Prospect Number 2353Phosphorus-PhosphatesPast Producer
Prospect Number 2353Phosphorus-PhosphatesPast Producer

Every working recorded in Limestone County

Storms near this place

7 since 2001

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2018Thunderstorm WindLester-Tree damage reported near Lester.
March 2012HailLester-Quarter sized hail was reported.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindLester-Damaging straight-line winds knocked down 2 trees near the Tennessee state line between Salem and Lester.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindLester-Two trees and numerous large limbs were blown down by thunderstorm winds.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindLester-Several trees were blown down by thunderstorm winds associated with a line of severe thunderstorms moving southeast through the county.
October 2004Tornado (F0)Lester-A F-0 tornado with maximum wind speeds at 60 mph touched down and destroyed a few trees and power lines.
June 2001HailLester-Dime to nickel size hail was reported in Lester. The hail covered the ground and collected up to a depth of 20 inches.

Every storm recorded in Limestone 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
Scarce Grease1.8 miles14
Union Hill2.7 miles14
Clifton (historical)2.7 miles15
Gourdsville3.3 miles15
Good Springs3.7 miles14
Mount Rozell3.9 miles14
Salem4.1 miles15
Ridgway Mill4.3 miles14

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 LesterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q67946The 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.