Needham, Alabama
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Gilbertown-Toxey census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36915. It stands on Cane Creek. The Survey maps it on the Toxey quadrangle. 73 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 171 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresNeedham fell from 94 to 73 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 | 94 | |
| 2020 | 73 | -21 (-22%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 12 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 Hattiesburg quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Hattiesburg quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1974 USGS Toxey quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Hattiesburg quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Waynesboro quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
108 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 108 fires within 5 miles of Needham between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,161 acres in total. None started naturally. 13 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 38 |
| Debris and open burning | 37 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 13 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 11 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Smoking | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20200909-1 |
| 9 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190925-9 |
| 21 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190921-27 |
| 20 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 18 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 17 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Needham: 1 prospect. None of them still produces. 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cho 8 Clay Prospect | Clay | Prospect |
Storms near this place
11 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Needham in 11 storm reports between 1998 and 2021: 8 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood, 1 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2000 | Tornado (F1) | Needham | $50,000 | It was determined from a National Weather Service Storm Survey that a strong F1 tornado first touched down near State Highway 17 and County Road 18 just East of Needham. The tornado tracked Northeast across large wooded areas where tree damage occurred. The tornado then crossed County Road 23 just North of Morgan Chapel where several homes sustained roof damage. The tornado continued tracking Northeast across mainly wooded areas...crossing County Road 43 just North of Mt. Sterling. Damage along this portion of the track was mainly to trees. The tornado then moved across Browns Landing Road to County Road 27 East of Mt. Sterling where the tornado lifted back into the clouds. The most substantial structural damage occurred along the track between Browns Landing Road and County Road 27. |
| November 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Needham | $10,000 | High winds from a thunderstorm blew down several trees and power lines near Needham. |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Needham | $10,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down by high thunderstorm winds near Needham. Golfball size hail was also reported in the area. |
| February 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Needham | $8,000 | High winds from a thunderstorm blew down several trees just north of Needham. |
| February 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Needham | $5,000 | Winds estimated at 60 mph downed multiple trees on Melvin Cutoff Road. |
| February 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Needham | $3,000 | Several trees were blown down along State Highway 17 just east of Needham. |
| March 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Needham | $2,000 | Winds estimated at 60 mph downed trees on county road 18. |
| April 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Needham | - | High winds downed several trees. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Needham | - | Multiple trees blown down by severe thunderstorm winds near 60 mph in the Needham area. Reported by WTOK Television. |
| July 2003 | Flash Flood | Needham | - | Heavy rains from slow moving thunderstorms caused street flooding in and around Needham. Several secondary roads around Needham were impassable because of high water and were closed for about an hour. Four inches of rainfall was estimated in an hours time near Needham. |
| March 2021 | Hail | Needham | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bogueloosa | 0.2 miles | 12 | |
| Brightwater | 1.1 miles | 12 | |
| Turner | 2.4 miles | 12 | |
| Jackson Spur | 2.4 miles | 12 | |
| Land | 2.9 miles | 8 | |
| Lusk | 2.9 miles | 12 | |
| Hodgewood | 3.9 miles | 12 | |
| Okatuppa | 4.3 miles | 12 |
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 Needham | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q65940 | 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 123671. 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.




