BlockBefore

Motts, Alabama

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Smiths Station census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36877. The Survey maps it on the Bleecker quadrangle.

Motts within Lee County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 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

84 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 84 fires within 5 miles of Motts between 1993 and 2020, burning about 1,708 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 20 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 burning29
Arson/incendiarism20
Missing data/not specified/undetermined13
Recreation and ceremony7
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Smoking4
Equipment and vehicle use4
Fireworks1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Natural1

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
9 September 2016Debris and open burning12 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160909-6
7 September 2002Railroad operations and maintenance11 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 2019Arson/incendiarism85 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190929-8
28 September 2001Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2001Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
27 September 2007Natural6.0 acresGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
2 September 2014Fireworksunder an acreAlabama Forestry CommissionECR-20140902-002
2 September 2011Debris and open burning10 acresAlabama Forestry Commission424 LEE ROAD 201, AL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lee County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Motts: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: 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
Hearn MineClayProducer

Every working recorded in Lee County

Storms near this place

9 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Motts in 9 storm reports between 2008 and 2026: 6 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 lightning. The reports record 1 death. 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
July 2024LightningMotts1 killedA lightning strike at the Lee County Flea Market in Smiths Station at approximately 12:45 PM CDT resulted in a fatality.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindMotts$2,000A flea market, near the intersection of US-280 and CR-379, near Smiths Station, had several tents blown over, and several pieces of metal roofing blown off and thrown down stream.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindMotts$2,000Trees were reported down on U.S. Hwy 80 in Smiths Station.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindMotts$2,000Several trees were blown down across the railroad tracks near CR-288 and US-280, northwest of Smiths Station.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindMotts-An outbuilding/shed was partially blown into the roadway at Lee Road 246 and Lee Road 289.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindMotts-A microburst occurred in Smiths Station, with large sections of metal roofing removed and trusses blown around at mostly open air buildings at the Lee County Flea Market. Additionally, small trees and tree limbs were snapped and power lines were downed around Smiths Station, including along Lee Roads 379, 430, 769, 2148, and Highway 280.
March 2013Thunderstorm WindMotts-Several trees were blown down near the intersection of Highway 280 and Lee Road 379.
March 2009HailMotts-Penny sized hail was reported at a convenience store northwest of Smiths Station, for the second time in under an hour.
March 2009HailMotts-Penny sized hail was reported at a convenience store northwest of Smiths Station.

Every storm recorded in Lee 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
Bleecker1.5 miles14
Shotwell2.5 miles14
Smiths Station3.1 miles14
Powledge3.9 miles13
Wacoochee Valley3.9 miles13
Monterey Heights4.9 miles14
Moffits Mill5.0 miles14
Salem5.6 miles14

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 154475. 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.