River Falls, Alabama
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Andalusia census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36421. It stands on Gunter Mill Creek. The Survey maps it on the River Falls quadrangle. 479 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 200 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresRiver Falls fell from 526 to 479 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 | 526 | |
| 2020 | 479 | -47 (-9%) |
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
- 1971 USGS River Falls quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS Andalusia quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
88 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 88 fires within 5 miles of River Falls between 1994 and 2020, burning about 351 acres in total. None started naturally. 12 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 burning | 34 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 13 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 10 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | 2.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 27 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | 4.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 26 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190926-2 |
| 26 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190926-3 |
| 23 September 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160923-14 |
| 23 September 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160923-15 |
| 23 September 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160923-13 |
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 River Falls: 3 unknowns, 1 occurrence, 1 producer, 1 prospect. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Silica, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Falls Sand Prospect | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed Quarry | Silica | Producer | Quartz | |
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Deposit | Iron | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
13 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names River Falls in 13 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 9 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 hail, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Falls | $20,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down by thunderstorm winds between River Falls and Andalusia. A shed was hit by lightning and was destroyed by the fire that resulted from the strike. |
| November 2001 | Tornado (F0) | River Falls | $15,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down in the community as a weak tornado briefly touched down. Dime sized hail was also reported. |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Falls | $13,000 | High thunderstorm winds tore portions of the roof off of a house and also damaged two mobile homes. |
| March 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Falls | $10,000 | Winds estimated at 60 mph downed a tree in River Falls and minor damage to a Gas Station Awning. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Falls | $10,000 | Numerous trees were reported down in the community. |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Falls | $5,000 | Several trees and power lines were blown down by high thunderstorm winds. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Falls | $4,000 | High thunderstorm winds blew numerous trees down. |
| January 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Falls | $3,000 | Several trees were blown down along US Hwy 84 near River Falls. |
| May 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Falls | $1,000 | Several trees were blown down along US HWY 84 near River Falls. |
| June 2023 | Flash Flood | River Falls | - | Heavy rain caused creek to overflow and flood a basement. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Falls | - | High winds downed multiple trees near River Falls. |
| May 2014 | Flash Flood | River Falls | - | Several roads flooded and closed in the River Falls area of western Covington County. |
| July 2001 | Hail | River Falls | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montezuma (historical) | 2.2 miles | 8 | |
| Heath | 3.7 miles | 8 | |
| Rhump | 3.9 miles | 8 | |
| Andalusia | 4.3 miles | 8 | |
| Gantt | 4.7 miles | 8 | |
| Red Level | 5.4 miles | 8 | |
| Valley of Shiloh | 5.8 miles | 8 | |
| Loango | 6.0 miles | 8 |
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 River Falls | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q66321 | 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 125660. 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.



