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Pelham, Alabama

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Alabaster-Helena census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35124. It lies near Fungo Valley. The Survey maps it on the Helena quadrangle. 24,318 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 502 feet above sea level.

Pelham within Shelby County

Population over time

2 figures

Pelham grew from 21,352 to 24,318 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
201021,352
202024,318+2,966 (+14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 27 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

84 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 84 fires within 5 miles of Pelham between 1994 and 2020, burning about 751 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 17 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 burning30
Arson/incendiarism17
Railroad operations and maintenance12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Equipment and vehicle use6
Recreation and ceremony5
Smoking1
Other causes1
Natural1
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
6 September 1995Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
27 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionNER-20150927-001
24 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 1999Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
18 September 1999Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
17 September 1998Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
14 September 1998Arson/incendiarism35 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 August 1999Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Shelby County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Pelham: 3 past producers, 3 producers, 3 unknowns, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Calcium. 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
Alabaster Lime PlantCalciumPast Producer
Helena QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Landmark Quarry & Lime MillCalciumProducer
Scotrock QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Helena, Ne OfIronPast ProducerResidual
Johnson ProspectIronProspect
Siluria, W OfIronPast ProducerResidual
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown

Every working recorded in Shelby County

Storms near this place

37 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pelham in 37 storm reports between 1995 and 2021: 19 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 lightning. 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
June 2003Flash FloodPelham$400,000Radar estimated rain was falling at a rate up to 3 inches an hour in Riverchase and Pelham. Rain amounts over a two hour period were from 5 to 6 inches. Several roads were flooded and temporarily impassable. Several small streams rose out of their banks. A few homes were flooded in Riverchase. The Pelham Fire Department performed a few swift water rescues. Seventy-five homes and six businesses received varying degrees of flood damage in Pelham along Highway 261. No injuries were reported.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindPelham$120,000no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindPelham$100,000no account filed
March 2010Flash FloodPelham$50,000After briefly letting up for a short time, another burst of heavy rainfall caused flash flooding in the city of Pelham. Several people had to be rescued from flooded townhomes.
May 2006LightningPelham$20,000One house, on Tall Timber Drive, caught on fire after being struck by lightning.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindPelham$16,000Several trees were blown down in Pelham. One tree fell on a sailboat producing moderate damage.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindPelham$12,000A billiard hall sustained roof damage and several trees were blown down along US 31.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindPelham$8,000Several trees were blown down in Inverness.
January 1998Thunderstorm WindPelham$5,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindPelham$5,000no account filed
January 1997HailPelham$5,000no account filed
August 2003LightningPelham$3,000Lightning struck a brick mailbox housing containing a metal mailbox with explosive force knocking a number of bricks in different directions. The lightning strike was believed responsible for damage to cable equipment at several houses including at least one television set and one computer that were rendered inoperable.
April 2000HailPelham$3,000Golfball size hail was reported in Pelham on CR 11.
March 2009Thunderstorm WindPelham$2,000Several trees were blown down on Roy Drive, and blocked the roadway.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindPelham$2,000Several trees were knocked down in Pelham.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindPelham$2,000Several trees were reported down in the Indian Springs area about five miles northeast of Pelham in northern Shelby County.
January 2009Thunderstorm WindPelham$1,000A few trees were blown down on CR-11, and CR-334.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindPelham$1,000Power lines were blown down on US-31, in Pelham.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindPelham$1,000A few small trees were blown down in Pelham.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindPelham-Several trees uprooted in the city of Pelham and around Shelby County.
March 2020Thunderstorm WindPelham-Several trees uprooted in the city of Pelham.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindPelham-Strong winds caused the partial collapse of the awning at the Jet Pep gas station.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindPelham-Powerlines were reported down on Kelly Drive.
July 2012Flash FloodPelham-A portion of Birmingham South Campground flooded and evacuations were necessary.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindPelham-Several trees were snapped or uprooted across Pelham, resulting in power outages.
April 2011HailPelham-Quarter size hail fell in the Dearing Downs Subdivision off of County Road 52 in Helena.
December 2005HailPelham-Nickel to quarter size hail was reported near Inverness. The hail covered the ground in several locations.
April 2004HailPelham-Dime to penny size hail fell from Pelham to Alabaster.
March 2003HailPelham-Penny size hail was observed in Pelham.
May 2003HailPelham-Dime to quarter size hail was reported in several locations including Alabaster, Helena, Pelham, and Indian Springs.
December 2000HailPelham-Nickel size hail was reported near SR 119.
April 1998HailPelham-Dime size hail was reported in Indian Springs by amateur radio storm spotters.
July 2012HailPelham-no account filed
April 2011HailPelham-no account filed
August 2005HailPelham-no account filed
January 1997Thunderstorm WindPelham-no account filed
April 1996Funnel CloudPelham-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Shelby 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
Blueberry Estates0.7 miles27
Dearing Downs1.1 miles27
Mallard Point1.2 miles27
Keystone1.2 miles27
Hunters Glen1.5 miles27
Hardy1.5 miles27
Cahaba Valley Estates1.6 miles27
Kingwood1.7 miles27

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 PelhamAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q79479The 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 124572. 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.