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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.

Needham within Choctaw County

Population over time

2 figures

Needham 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.

YearPeople Change
201094
202073-21 (-22%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 12 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

108 since 1994

Regional 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/undetermined38
Debris and open burning37
Arson/incendiarism13
Equipment and vehicle use11
Recreation and ceremony5
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Smoking2

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 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20200909-1
9 September 1995Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1994Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190925-9
21 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190921-27
20 September 1999Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
18 September 1999Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
17 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Choctaw 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 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Cho 8 Clay ProspectClayProspect

Every working recorded in Choctaw County

Storms near this place

11 since 1998

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2000Tornado (F1)Needham$50,000It 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 2006Thunderstorm WindNeedham$10,000High winds from a thunderstorm blew down several trees and power lines near Needham.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindNeedham$10,000Trees and power lines were blown down by high thunderstorm winds near Needham. Golfball size hail was also reported in the area.
February 2003Thunderstorm WindNeedham$8,000High winds from a thunderstorm blew down several trees just north of Needham.
February 2016Thunderstorm WindNeedham$5,000Winds estimated at 60 mph downed multiple trees on Melvin Cutoff Road.
February 1998Thunderstorm WindNeedham$3,000Several trees were blown down along State Highway 17 just east of Needham.
March 2011Thunderstorm WindNeedham$2,000Winds estimated at 60 mph downed trees on county road 18.
April 2021Thunderstorm WindNeedham-High winds downed several trees.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindNeedham-Multiple trees blown down by severe thunderstorm winds near 60 mph in the Needham area. Reported by WTOK Television.
July 2003Flash FloodNeedham-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 2021HailNeedham-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Choctaw 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
Bogueloosa0.2 miles12
Brightwater1.1 miles12
Turner2.4 miles12
Jackson Spur2.4 miles12
Land2.9 miles8
Lusk2.9 miles12
Hodgewood3.9 miles12
Okatuppa4.3 miles12

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 NeedhamAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q65940The 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.