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Rays Crossroads, Alabama

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 2001. It stands in the Millerville-Hollins census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36251. The Survey maps it on the Clairmont Springs quadrangle.

Rays Crossroads within Clay County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 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

161 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 161 fires within 5 miles of Rays Crossroads between 1994 and 2019, burning about 2,468 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 68 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/incendiarism68
Debris and open burning54
Missing data/not specified/undetermined24
Recreation and ceremony7
Equipment and vehicle use7
Natural1

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
9 September 1998Arson/incendiarism1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1999Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 2002Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 2002Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry CommissionMINES ROAD, AL
26 September 1999Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 1999Arson/incendiarism11 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Clay County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 65 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 65 workings within 5 miles of Rays Crossroads: 44 past producers, 13 occurrences, 4 prospects, 2 unknowns. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Graphite, Gold, Mica, Vanadium. 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
Ashland Cyanite ProspectKyaniteOccurrence
Bowden Grove Manganese ProspectManganeseOccurrencePyrolusite
Central Clay County Gibbsite ProspectAluminum, ManganeseOccurrence1977
Clay County Hwy Dept. Ashland PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Franklin MineGold, IronPast Producer
Hatchet Creek Prospect - West MillervilleIron, Copper, SulfurOccurrence1963
Hatchet Creek Prospect MillervilleSulfur, Iron, CopperOccurrence1963
Stringfellow ProspectSulfur-Pyrite, CopperOccurrence1854
Stringfellow ProspectCopper, SulfurOccurrence1855
Unnamed OccurrenceUranium, GraphiteOccurrence1974

Every working recorded in Clay 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
High Pine0.6 miles15
Harkins Crossroads2.0 miles11
Ashland3.6 miles12
Carr Mill4.0 miles14
Springhill4.3 miles15
Millerville4.4 miles14
Gage5.6 miles23
Glades5.7 miles14

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.

Wikidata item Q122559476The 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 160474. 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.