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Smithsonia, Alabama

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1924 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Oakland census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35633. It stands on Cave Spring Branch. The Survey maps it on the Cherokee quadrangle. It stands 512 feet above sea level.

Smithsonia within Lauderdale County

On record in Smithsonia

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 1 record

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 19 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

123 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 123 fires within 5 miles of Smithsonia between 1993 and 2020, burning about 1,139 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 52 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/incendiarism52
Debris and open burning26
Missing data/not specified/undetermined19
Equipment and vehicle use12
Recreation and ceremony6
Smoking5
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
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
7 September 2006Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 2002Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 2011Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission201 PLANTVIEW RD, AL
28 September 2010Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
19 September 2003Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission4685 COUNTY ROAD 189, AL
16 September 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commission20160916-1
16 September 1999Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lauderdale County

Storms near this place

11 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Smithsonia in 11 storm reports between 2011 and 2025: 10 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. 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 2011Tornado (EF1)Smithsonia1 hurtA tornado with an EF-1 intensity produced peak wind speeds up to 90 mph. The tornado touched down 1 mile north of the intersection of County Road 2 and County Road 189 north of Smithsonia. Here, a large storage shed was demolished and a second was partially damaged. The tornado crossed the intersection of County Roads 189 and 221 where a staff member of the Emergency Management Agency for Lauderdale County was injured in his vehicle by broken glass. The tornado continued to the corner of County Roads 189 and 62 where the front end of a church was ripped off and 3 large trees were toppled in different directions. ||Adjacent to the church, a residence had exterior damage, where siding was ripped off and thrown approximately 300 yards into a field. Numerous twigs and sticks were driven into the side of the home and several windows were blown out. A 28 foot travel trailer was picked up, toppled and moved approximately 10 feet. Insulation was sucked out of the attic and into the garage, and the water heater in the home was imploded. The tornado then lifted northeast of this residence.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindSmithsonia$50,000The Smithsonia Church of Christ and an adjacent mobile home sustained damage along CR 2. The photo of the damage indicated significant damage to the west facing roof and top portion of the underlying brick wall. Time estimated by radar.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindSmithsonia$7,000Trees and powerlines were knocked down on CR 128.
January 2013Thunderstorm WindSmithsonia$3,000Trees were downed at County Road 2 near the Natchez Trace. The time was estimated by radar.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindSmithsonia$1,000A tree was knocked down at CR 2 and Sunset Beach Road. Time was estimated from radar.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindSmithsonia$1,000A tree was knocked down at 335 Sunset Beach Road. Time estimated by radar.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindSmithsonia$1,000A tree was reported down at the intersection of CR 2 and CR 189. Time was estimated from radar.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindSmithsonia$1,000A tree was reported down near the intersection of CR 2 and Sunset Beach Road. Time was estimated from radar.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindSmithsonia$500A tree was knocked down onto power lines at 336 Sunset Beach Road. Time estimated by radar.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindSmithsonia$200A tree was knocked down on CR 4 between CR 180 and CR 15.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindSmithsonia-Multiple trees were knocked down in the road in the Sunset Beach neighborhood.

Every storm recorded in Lauderdale 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
Canaan2.5 miles18
Woodland4.2 miles18
Green Tree (historical)4.3 miles18
Oakland5.4 miles18
Rhodesville5.4 miles18
Glen Oaks5.8 miles18
Gravelly Springs6.5 miles18
Kimbrough Crossroads6.5 miles18

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 SmithsoniaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q21187990The 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 157080. 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.