Nitrate City, Alabama
18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1914 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Leighton census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35661. It lies near Abernathy Bottom. The Survey maps it on the Killen quadrangle. It stands 571 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 18 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.
- 1914 USGS Muscle Shoals quadrangle1:48000
- 1916 USGS Muscle Shoals quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1936 USGS Killen quadrangle1:24000
- 1953 USGS Killen quadrangle1:24000
- 1956 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Killen quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1986 USGS Tuscumbia quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
131 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 131 fires within 5 miles of Nitrate City between 1994 and 2017, burning about 597 acres in total. None started naturally. 27 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 | 51 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 27 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 13 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 13 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 7 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160907-6 |
| 30 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | RIVER ROAD, AL |
| 28 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 27 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 27 September 2000 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 27 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 17 September 2000 | Smoking | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
8 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Nitrate City in 8 storm reports between 2007 and 2025: 5 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nitrate City | $1,000 | A tree was reported down at 1245 Bainbridge road. Time was estimated from radar data. |
| February 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nitrate City | $500 | A tree was knocked down near the intersection of Gate 6 Road and 2nd Street. |
| March 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nitrate City | $200 | A tree was knocked down near 2nd Street at Bainbridge Road. |
| May 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nitrate City | $200 | A tree and power lines was knocked down on Osborne Lane. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Nitrate City | - | Some residents evacuated from houses on Marthaler Lane due to flooding. Water depth unknown. |
| November 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nitrate City | - | Trees were knocked down near the intersection of Gate 6 Road and 2nd Street. |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Nitrate City | - | Repeated rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall. This caused flash flooding in the following locations: the outer lanes of Jackson Highway, Wilson Dam Road between 6th Street and Avalon Road, and at the Taco Bell on Woodward Avenue. |
| December 2007 | Hail | Nitrate City | - | Penny sized hail was reported. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listerhill | 1.2 miles | 18 | |
| Underwood Crossroads | 1.6 miles | 18 | |
| Davidsons Cross Roads (historical) | 2.0 miles | 18 | |
| Ford City | 2.6 miles | 18 | |
| Virginia Shores | 2.6 miles | 18 | |
| Mount Pleasant (historical) | 2.7 miles | 18 | |
| Alabama Shores | 2.7 miles | 18 | |
| Paradise Points | 2.9 miles | 18 |
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 Nitrate City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q18353717 | 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 123949. 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.
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.









