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.
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
- Baptist Church, U.S. Highway 231, Orionfederal building survey, 2 photographs
- Berry House, County Road 14, High Ridgefederal building survey, 3 photographs
- Hanchey-Pennington House, U.S. Highway 231, Orionfederal building survey, 3 photographs
- John Chancey House, High Ridgefederal building survey, 3 photographs
- McCullough-Henderson House, U.S. Highway 231, Orionfederal building survey, 3 photographs
- Orion Male & Female Institute, U.S. Highway 231, Orionfederal building survey, 2 photographs
- Solomon Siler House, U.S. Highway 231, Orionfederal building survey, 15 photographs
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 8 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 Andalusia quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Andalusia quadrangle1:250000
- 1968 USGS Ansley quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
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.
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
67 since 1994Regional 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/undetermined | 20 |
| Debris and open burning | 17 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 16 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190923-5 |
| 15 September 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 22 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190915-2 |
| 8 August 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20200808-5 |
| 3 August 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 22 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 August 2000 | Natural | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 15 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | CO RD 7718, AL |
| 10 August 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 16 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | SER-20150810-001 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Mineral Placer | Kyanite, Zirconium, Titanium, Metal, Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Ilmenite, Kyanite, Rutile, Zircon | |
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown |
Storms near this place
8 since 1997Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orion | $5,000 | Several trees were blown down across the northern portion of the county. |
| November 1997 | Hail | Orion | $5,000 | Quarter to half dollar size hail was reported near Orion, in the northern part of the county. |
| April 2005 | Hail | Orion | $3,000 | Hail 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 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orion | $2,000 | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Hail | Orion | $1,000 | Penny size hail fell in extreme northern Pike County near the China Grove community. |
| June 2023 | Hail | Orion | - | Ping pong size hail reported in the Orion community. |
| April 2022 | Tornado (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 2020 | Tornado (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. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curry | 2.4 miles | 8 | |
| Meeksville | 2.8 miles | 8 | |
| Harmony | 4.7 miles | 8 | |
| Logton | 4.8 miles | 7 | |
| Needmore | 5.2 miles | 7 | |
| Friendship | 5.5 miles | 8 | |
| China Grove | 5.9 miles | 9 | |
| Stills Crossroads | 6.5 miles | 7 |
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 Orion | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q19359713 | 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 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.



