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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.

Nitrate City within Colbert County

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 18 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

131 since 1994

Regional 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 burning51
Arson/incendiarism27
Missing data/not specified/undetermined14
Recreation and ceremony13
Equipment and vehicle use13
Misuse of fire by a minor7
Smoking3
Railroad operations and maintenance3

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
7 September 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commission20160907-6
30 September 2008Debris and open burning1.5 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionRIVER ROAD, AL
28 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
27 September 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
27 September 2000Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
27 September 1999Arson/incendiarism1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
21 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
17 September 2000Smokingunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Colbert County

Storms near this place

8 since 2007

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2025Thunderstorm WindNitrate City$1,000A tree was reported down at 1245 Bainbridge road. Time was estimated from radar data.
February 2024Thunderstorm WindNitrate City$500A tree was knocked down near the intersection of Gate 6 Road and 2nd Street.
March 2021Thunderstorm WindNitrate City$200A tree was knocked down near 2nd Street at Bainbridge Road.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindNitrate City$200A tree and power lines was knocked down on Osborne Lane.
February 2019FloodNitrate City-Some residents evacuated from houses on Marthaler Lane due to flooding. Water depth unknown.
November 2017Thunderstorm WindNitrate City-Trees were knocked down near the intersection of Gate 6 Road and 2nd Street.
June 2008Flash FloodNitrate 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 2007HailNitrate City-Penny sized hail was reported.

Every storm recorded in Colbert 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
Listerhill1.2 miles18
Underwood Crossroads1.6 miles18
Davidsons Cross Roads (historical)2.0 miles18
Ford City2.6 miles18
Virginia Shores2.6 miles18
Mount Pleasant (historical)2.7 miles18
Alabama Shores2.7 miles18
Paradise Points2.9 miles18

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 CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q18353717The 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.