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.
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
- William Koger Houselisted 1986
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 19 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.
- 1924 USGS Gravelly Springs quadrangle1:62500
- 1924 USGS Gravelly Springs quadrangle1:48000
- 1926 USGS Gravelly Springs quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1935 USGS Cherokee quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Cherokee quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Tuscumbia quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
123 since 1993Regional 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/incendiarism | 52 |
| Debris and open burning | 26 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Smoking | 5 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2006 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 7 September 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 3 September 2011 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 201 PLANTVIEW RD, AL |
| 28 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 19 September 2003 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 4685 COUNTY ROAD 189, AL |
| 16 September 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160916-1 |
| 16 September 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
11 since 2011Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2011 | Tornado (EF1) | Smithsonia | 1 hurt | A 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 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smithsonia | $50,000 | The 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 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smithsonia | $7,000 | Trees and powerlines were knocked down on CR 128. |
| January 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smithsonia | $3,000 | Trees were downed at County Road 2 near the Natchez Trace. The time was estimated by radar. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smithsonia | $1,000 | A tree was knocked down at CR 2 and Sunset Beach Road. Time was estimated from radar. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smithsonia | $1,000 | A tree was knocked down at 335 Sunset Beach Road. Time estimated by radar. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smithsonia | $1,000 | A tree was reported down at the intersection of CR 2 and CR 189. Time was estimated from radar. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smithsonia | $1,000 | A tree was reported down near the intersection of CR 2 and Sunset Beach Road. Time was estimated from radar. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smithsonia | $500 | A tree was knocked down onto power lines at 336 Sunset Beach Road. Time estimated by radar. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smithsonia | $200 | A tree was knocked down on CR 4 between CR 180 and CR 15. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smithsonia | - | Multiple trees were knocked down in the road in the Sunset Beach neighborhood. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canaan | 2.5 miles | 18 | |
| Woodland | 4.2 miles | 18 | |
| Green Tree (historical) | 4.3 miles | 18 | |
| Oakland | 5.4 miles | 18 | |
| Rhodesville | 5.4 miles | 18 | |
| Glen Oaks | 5.8 miles | 18 | |
| Gravelly Springs | 6.5 miles | 18 | |
| Kimbrough Crossroads | 6.5 miles | 18 |
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 Smithsonia | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q21187990 | 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 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.









