BlockBefore

Seale, Alabama

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1914 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Cottonton-Seale census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36875. The Survey maps it on the Seale quadrangle. It stands 341 feet above sea level.

Seale within Russell County

On record in Seale

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 2 records

Surveyed buildings and structures 2 records

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 20 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.

Photographs

2 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.

Dudley's Hotel, Railroad & Main Streets, Seale, Russell County, AL
Dudley's Hotel, Railroad & Main Streets, Seale, Russell County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Bass-Perry House, U.S. Highway 431, Seale, Russell County, AL
Bass-Perry House, U.S. Highway 431, Seale, Russell County, AL
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

208 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 208 fires within 5 miles of Seale between 1994 and 2020, burning about 2,316 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 21 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 burning97
Missing data/not specified/undetermined32
Arson/incendiarism21
Recreation and ceremony17
Equipment and vehicle use15
Smoking11
Misuse of fire by a minor10
Natural3
Railroad operations and maintenance2

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 2002Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 2016Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160929-3
28 September 2016Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160928-39
25 September 2010Debris and open burning15 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
21 September 2002Arson/incendiarism8.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190920-4
15 September 2010Smoking20 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
13 September 2010Debris and open burning20 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Russell County

Storms near this place

32 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Seale in 32 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 15 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 2 funnel cloud, 1 flash flood. 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
April 2007HailSeale$100,000A swath of very large hail, some of it as big as grapefruits, fell across the eastern portion of Russell County, including the cities of Seale, Fort Mitchell, and Holy Trinity. The ground was covered with hail in several locations. At least 4 homes and 15 cars were damaged.
July 2008LightningSeale$50,000A lightning strike caused a house to catch fire.
April 1996HailSeale$25,000no account filed
March 1996Thunderstorm WindSeale$25,000no account filed
March 2005HailSeale$22,000Large hail was reported in and near the Seale all the way to Phenix City. The hail was nickel to golfball size.
June 1996Thunderstorm WindSeale$20,000no account filed
March 2001Flash FloodSeale$14,000Several roads were flooded in and around Seale. A few of the roads had portions washed away.
November 1997Thunderstorm WindSeale$10,000Trees were down and blocking the intersection of CR 18 and CR 39, in the eastern part of the county.
April 1996HailSeale$8,000no account filed
June 2007Thunderstorm WindSeale$5,000Two very large trees were blown down and blocked the road, just south of Seale.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindSeale$5,000Several trees were blown down from near the Crawford Community to south of Phenix City.
March 1997Thunderstorm WindSeale$5,000no account filed
April 2005HailSeale$4,000Golf ball size hail was reported just north of Seale.
April 1997Thunderstorm WindSeale$4,000Trees were down in Seale, in the central part of the county.
February 2008Thunderstorm WindSeale$3,000Several trees were blown down on US-431, near Seale.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindSeale$2,000Trees were blown down in and around Seale.
April 2004Thunderstorm WindSeale$2,000A few trees were blown down around the city of Seale.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindSeale$500A shutter was blown off a house in the Steele community.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindSeale-Trees were downed across various parts of Russell County.
May 2025HailSeale-Penny-size hail was reported in the Seale area.
May 2024HailSeale-Quarter-size hail was reported along Highway 169 near Seale.
March 2023HailSeale-Hail covering the ground in Seale, some as large as quarters.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindSeale-Numerous trees uprooted in the town of Seale and across Russell County.
May 2003HailSeale-Penny size hail was reported in central Russell County near Seale.
June 2001HailSeale-Nickel size hail was reported in Seale.
March 2000HailSeale-Penny size hail fell just north of the city of Seale.
April 1998HailSeale-Dime size hail was reported in Cottonton.
April 2009HailSeale-no account filed
April 2009HailSeale-no account filed
March 2008HailSeale-no account filed
April 2007Funnel CloudSeale-no account filed
March 2006Funnel CloudSeale-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Russell 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
Dudleys1.6 miles20
Villula2.2 miles20
Colbert3.7 miles20
Lato4.0 miles20
Sandfort4.0 miles20
Hyram5.7 miles20
Hatchechubbee6.0 miles9
Parkmanville6.3 miles20

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 SealeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2891020The 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 153358. 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.

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.