Ragland, Alabama
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Ragland census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35131. It stands on Green Branch. The Survey maps it on the Ragland quadrangle. 1,693 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 568 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresRagland grew from 1,639 to 1,693 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,639 | |
| 2020 | 1,693 | +54 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 24 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.
- 1889 USGS Springville quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Springville quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1947 USGS Ragland quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1947 USGS Ragland quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Ragland quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Birmingham North quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
154 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 154 fires within 5 miles of Ragland between 1994 and 2020, burning about 3,610 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 74 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 74 |
| Debris and open burning | 50 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 8 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 7 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 35 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 30 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 13 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 23 September 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | NER-20140923-002 |
| 22 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Ragland: 2 producers, 1 unknown, 1 plant, 1 past producer. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Clay, Iron, Stone. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ragland Cement Plant | Stone | Plant | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Ragland Mine | Clay | Producer | ||
| Ragland Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Ragland Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Ragland Shale Pit | Clay | Prospect |
Storms near this place
23 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ragland in 23 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 18 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 2 flash flood. The reports record 3 deaths and 4 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | 3 killed, 4 hurt, $23,000 | A strong wind gust with a thunderstorm collapsed a boat house under construction killing three people and injuring four others who had sought shelter. Eight people boating on Neely Henry Lake sought shelter in a partially completed boat house on the St. Clair shore of the lake. The people were injured and killed when the boat house roof collapsed during the wind gust. (F29O, F06O, M04O) |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | $200,000 | A downburst hit the city of Ragland and caused severe damage to a church and damage to about 40 homes. None of the homes were completely destroyed, but several received severe roof damage. It also knocked down trees and power lines across the city. About 300 people in the area were without power until late into the night. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | $15,000 | Numerous trees were knocked down causing roof damage to many homes. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | $3,000 | Several trees were blown down on Old Ashville Road in Ragland. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | $3,000 | Several trees had their tops snapped off along SR 144 south of Ragland. A few of the downed trees snapped power lines. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | $2,000 | Shingles were blown off a roof, and several tree branches were blown down. |
| April 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | $1,000 | The porch of a house was damaged on Sunset Drive, near Ragland. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | $1,000 | Several trees and power lines were blown down. |
| August 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | $1,000 | Several trees and power lines were blown down. |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | $1,000 | A few trees down. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | - | Several trees were uprooted and several tree limbs were snapped along County Road 26 just west of Ragland, with much of town losing power. |
| April 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | - | Multiple trees were downed in the Ragland area. |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | - | Numerous trees uprooted across eastern St. Clair County including the city of Ragland. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | - | Several trees uprooted and power lines downed in Ragland. |
| January 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | - | Several trees uprooted in the town of Ragland. |
| February 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | - | Several trees uprooted around the town of Ragland. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | - | Several trees uprooted in the city of Ragland. |
| June 2015 | Flash Flood | Ragland | - | Flash flooding reported on Providence Road in the town of Ragland. Fireworks stand washed into roadway. |
| March 2012 | Flash Flood | Ragland | - | Several hours of heavy rainfall resulted in 2 to 4 inches of rain falling across the eastern portions of St. Clair County. This led to several roads being closed due to flash flooding. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ragland | - | Trees were reported down approximately one mile northeast of Ragland, along Macedonia Rd. |
| June 2002 | Hail | Ragland | - | Quarter size hail was observed in and around the city of Ragland. |
| February 2009 | Hail | Ragland | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Ragland | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairview | 2.7 miles | 24 | |
| Wattsville | 7.9 miles | 21 | |
| Coal City | 8.1 miles | 21 | |
| Ashville | 8.2 miles | 19 | |
| Cool Springs | 9.9 miles | 19 | |
| Riverside | 9.9 miles | 24 | |
| Hood | 9.9 miles | 22 | |
| Pleasant Valley | 10.4 miles | 21 |
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 Ragland | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q68206 | 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 164825. 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.








