BlockBefore

Orion, Alabama

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Needmore census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36081. The Survey maps it on the Ansley quadrangle. It stands 561 feet above sea level.

Orion within Pike County

On record in Orion

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

Surveyed buildings and structures 7 records

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 8 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.

Photographs

4 photographs,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Orion Male & Female Institute, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL
Orion Male & Female Institute, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Baptist Church, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL
Baptist Church, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
McCullough-Henderson House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL
McCullough-Henderson House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Hanchey-Pennington House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL
Hanchey-Pennington House, U.S. Highway 231, Orion, Pike County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

67 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 67 fires within 5 miles of Orion between 1994 and 2020, burning about 868 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 16 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/undetermined20
Debris and open burning17
Arson/incendiarism16
Equipment and vehicle use7
Recreation and ceremony3
Natural2
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Smoking1

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
23 September 2019Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190923-5
15 September 2019Arson/incendiarism22 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190915-2
8 August 2020Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20200808-5
3 August 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
22 August 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
21 August 2000Natural1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
15 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionCO RD 7718, AL
10 August 2015Equipment and vehicle use16 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionSER-20150810-001

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pike County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Orion: 1 unknown, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Kyanite, Zirconium, Titanium, Metal, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Heavy Mineral PlacerKyanite, Zirconium, Titanium, Metal, Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducerIlmenite, Kyanite, Rutile, Zircon
UnnamedIronUnknown

Every working recorded in Pike County

Storms near this place

8 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Orion in 8 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 4 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. 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
February 2008Thunderstorm WindOrion$5,000Several trees were blown down across the northern portion of the county.
November 1997HailOrion$5,000Quarter to half dollar size hail was reported near Orion, in the northern part of the county.
April 2005HailOrion$3,000Hail up to the size of golf balls fell across extreme northern Pike County. Wind gusts associated with this storm were estimated around 60 miles an hour. The large hail completely covered the groundalong US 231 and traffic was temporarily halted.
April 2005Thunderstorm WindOrion$2,000no account filed
April 2005HailOrion$1,000Penny size hail fell in extreme northern Pike County near the China Grove community.
June 2023HailOrion-Ping pong size hail reported in the Orion community.
April 2022Tornado (EF0)Orion-National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern Pike County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum winds near 85 mph. This tornado started in southeast Montgomery County and crossed into Pike County just north of Jackson Creek. The tornado tracked eastward over rural areas with damage consisting mainly of uprooted trees.
March 2020Tornado (EF0)Orion-National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Pike County and determined that it was consistent with an EF0 tornado, with maximum winds near 70 mph. Damage was limited to a few snapped and uprooted pine trees along its path. A tornado debris signature was noted with this storm.

Every storm recorded in Pike 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
Curry2.4 miles8
Meeksville2.8 miles8
Harmony4.7 miles8
Logton4.8 miles7
Needmore5.2 miles7
Friendship5.5 miles8
China Grove5.9 miles9
Stills Crossroads6.5 miles7

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 OrionAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q19359713The 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 152820. 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.