Merritts Crossroads, Alabama
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Madrid census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36375. It stands on Box Branch. The Survey maps it on the Madrid quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 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.
- 1953 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Madrid quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1981 USGS Dothan quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
61 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 61 fires within 5 miles of Merritts Crossroads between 1994 and 2020, burning about 292 acres in total. None started naturally. 12 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 | 24 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 12 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 23 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 14 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 7 August 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | SER-20140808-002 |
| 28 August 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | SER-20140828-002 |
| 30 July 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9.9 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | SER-20140730-001 |
| 30 July 1996 | Smoking | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 30 June 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 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 Merritts Crossroads: 1 prospect, 1 occurrence, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen 1 Clay Prospect | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Deposit | Iron | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
7 since 2013Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Merritts Crossroads in 7 storm reports between 2013 and 2023: 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. The reports record 4 deaths. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merritts Crossroads | 4 killed, $100,000 | An NWS Survey Team determined that some damage in the Rehobeth area was caused by strong straight line winds on the southern flank of a tornado just to the north. Damage consisted of numerous large trees snapped or uprooted. One mobile home was split by a large tree, resulting in four fatalities. The damage pattern along this path was not convergent and was noticeably south of the path of the tornado vortex. Damage cost was estimated. |
| July 2016 | Flash Flood | Merritts Crossroads | $20,000 | Cobb Road was reported to have collapsed and was barricaded. Radar estimated that 3-4 inches of rain fell in 1 hour. Damage was estimated. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merritts Crossroads | $3,000 | Several trees were blown down along New Hope Road, including one across the road near the intersection with Atwell Road. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merritts Crossroads | $3,000 | Power lines were blown down on Skipper Road. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merritts Crossroads | $2,000 | The Dothan Eagle reported trees down along Providence Road. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merritts Crossroads | - | Trees blew down along Highway 109 at Providence Road near the Florida line. |
| September 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Merritts Crossroads | - | Several trees and power lines were blown down along Atwell, New Hope, and Providence roads. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Creek | 3.0 miles | 8 | |
| Rehobeth | 3.0 miles | 8 | |
| Garretts Crossroads | 3.7 miles | 8 | |
| Southern Junction | 4.1 miles | 8 | |
| Roland | 4.2 miles | 8 | |
| Taylor | 5.4 miles | 8 | |
| Five Points | 5.5 miles | 8 | |
| Parker Village | 5.6 miles | 8 |
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.
| Wikidata item Q122541717 | 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 156701. 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.




