Smelley, Alabama
22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 2001. It stands in the Talladega census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35160. It stands on Tyler Branch. The Survey maps it on the Porter Gap quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 22 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.
- 1890 USGS Talladega quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Talladega quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1943 USGS Talladega quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1946 USGS Talladega quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Talladega SE quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Birmingham South quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1987 USGS Porter Gap quadrangle1:24000
- 2001 USGS Porter Gap quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
317 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 317 fires within 5 miles of Smelley between 1992 and 2020, burning about 6,720 acres in total. 17 started naturally. 134 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 | 134 |
| Debris and open burning | 61 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 34 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 20 |
| Natural | 17 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2006 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 57 acres | National Forests in Alabama | MUMP CREEK |
| 8 September 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | National Forests in Alabama | 4-STRIKES |
| 7 September 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | National Forests in Alabama | STUMP HOLE (612) |
| 6 September 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190906-9 |
| 6 September 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190906-17 |
| 30 September 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190929-5 |
| 26 September 1999 | Smoking | 22 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 19 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of Smelley: 10 past producers, 3 occurrences, 3 unknowns, 2 prospects. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Iron, Sulfides, Copper, Molybdenum, Bismuth. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Log Mine | Copper, Silver, Gold | Past Producer | 1874 | |
| Hatchet Creek Copper | Copper, Molybdenum, Bismuth | Producer | Chalcopyrite, Molybdenite | |
| Talladega Prospect | Aluminum | Occurrence | ||
| Watts Prospect | Manganese | Occurrence | 1944 | |
| Woodward Prospect | Gold, Silver, Sulfides | Occurrence | Gold, Silver | |
| Woodward Prospect | Gold, Silver | Prospect | ||
| Gold Log Mine | Gold, Sulfides | Past Producer | 1875 | |
| Story Mine | Gold, Sulfides | Past Producer | Gold, Pyrite | |
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berneys | 3.9 miles | 22 | |
| Waldo | 4.2 miles | 22 | |
| Chandler Springs | 4.2 miles | 15 | |
| Allison Mills | 4.3 miles | 22 | |
| Rendalia | 4.4 miles | 22 | |
| Taylors Mill | 5.0 miles | 22 | |
| Abihka (historical) | 5.0 miles | 22 | |
| Carara | 5.0 miles | 22 |
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 Q122557992 | 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 166164. 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.










