BlockBefore

Sipsey, Alabama

21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Sipsey census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35584. It stands on Burton Creek. The Survey maps it on the Sipsey quadrangle. 363 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 430 feet above sea level.

Sipsey within Walker County

Population over time

2 figures

Sipsey fell from 437 to 363 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
2010437
2020363-74 (-17%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 21 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

224 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 224 fires within 5 miles of Sipsey between 1994 and 2020, burning about 4,267 acres in total. None started naturally. 89 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/incendiarism89
Debris and open burning77
Missing data/not specified/undetermined32
Recreation and ceremony14
Equipment and vehicle use4
Other causes3
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Smoking1

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 1995Debris and open burning4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
8 September 1995Debris and open burning1.8 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1995Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1995Railroad operations and maintenance24 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1995Debris and open burning4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2010Debris and open burning25 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2000Arson/incendiarism10 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1999Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Walker County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Sipsey: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Clay. 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
Drummond Coal Co., PitClayProducer

Every working recorded in Walker County

Storms near this place

31 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sipsey in 31 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 18 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 3 tornado, 1 flash flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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 2005Thunderstorm WindSipsey1 hurt, $35,000Several trees and power lines were blown down in and around Sipsey. A few homes were damaged by fallen trees. One woman suffered minor injuries when a tree fell on her home.
April 1998Tornado (F1)Sipsey$130,000no account filed
December 2008Tornado (EF2)Sipsey$100,000The tornado touched down near the intersection of Snow Drive and Old Pineywoods Road, just north of US-78. It then traveled northeastward and crossed CR-77 and lifted shortly thereafter. One mobile home was totally destroyed and rolled approximately 50 feet. At least two additional mobile homes suffered significant damage. Two chicken houses were damaged. A few hundred trees were either snapped off or were uprooted along the path.
May 2009Tornado (EF0)Sipsey$25,000A tornado briefly touched down along Highway 69 and crossed the road before lifting. A carport was destroyed with debris scattered across the road. Several trees were uprooted and snapped and a trampoline was carried 200 yards downwind. A utility pole was also snapped but was likely impacted by debris.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindSipsey$3,000Several trees were blown down on Mountain View Road.
February 2011Thunderstorm WindSipsey$2,000Several trees down reported in Sipsey.
February 2011Thunderstorm WindSipsey$2,000Several trees blown down on Smith Lake Dam rd, near Highway 69.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindSipsey$500A few trees were downed in the Argo area of Walker County.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Trees were downed on Sipsey Rd.
February 2026HailSipsey-Quarter-size hail fell in the Pineywoods area.
February 2025Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Social media report of trees and a power line down on Pineywoods Sipsey Rd.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Several trees were downed in the Sipsey area.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Several trees uprooted on Highway 69 between Jasper and the Cullman County line.
November 2022Thunderstorm WindSipsey-A QLCS produced wind damage in the town of Sipsey, consisting of uprooted trees and downed power lines.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Several trees uprooted and power lines downed along Sipsey Road.
April 2018Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Several trees uprooted along Highway 78.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Wind gust estimated between 60 and 70 mph west of Sipsey, near old U.S. Highway 78.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Trees were blown down at the intersection of Pineywoods Sipsey Rd and Capps Rd.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Trees were blown down at the intersection of Tidwell Cemetery Rd and Old Pineywoods Rd.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Trees and power lines were blown down in the 1200 block of Sipsey Road.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Trees were blown down on Pineywoods Sipsey Rd and Claude Banks Rd, blocking the roadway. A school bus was trapped due to the fallen trees. No injuries.
March 2008HailSipsey-Penny size hail covered the ground several inches deep in the Sipsey Community.
December 2008Flash FloodSipsey-Heavy rain caused water to flow over a bridge near the Sipsey Community.
April 1995HailSipsey-Quarter-size hail was reported in Jasper by the sheriff's office. Half dollar-size hail was reported at Sipsey in the eastern part of the county.
March 1994HailSipsey-Three-quarter-inch hail was reported in Eastern Walker County.
March 1994Thunderstorm WindSipsey-Three-quarter-inch hail was reported in Eastern Walker County.
March 2021HailSipsey-no account filed
March 2012HailSipsey-no account filed
March 2012HailSipsey-no account filed
March 2012HailSipsey-no account filed
March 2012HailSipsey-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Walker 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
Campbellville1.8 miles21
Black Warrior Town (historical)2.0 miles21
Argo2.3 miles21
Dilworth2.3 miles21
Rocky Hollow3.0 miles21
Coon Creek3.1 miles21
Lynns Park3.3 miles19
Hull3.8 miles21

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 SipseyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q68142The 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 153455. 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.