Speake, Alabama
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1935 and the latest in 2000. It stands in the Speake-Oakville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35619. It stands on Stover Branch. The Survey maps it on the Oakville quadrangle. It stands 650 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 17 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.
- 1935 USGS Danville quadrangle1:48000
- 1935 USGS Danville quadrangle1:62500
- 1935 USGS Oakville quadrangle1:24000
- 1938 USGS Danville quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Oakville quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1963 USGS Gadsden quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Haleyville quadrangle1:100000
- 2000 USGS Oakville quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
47 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 47 fires within 5 miles of Speake between 1994 and 2016, burning about 1,841 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 17 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 | 17 |
| Debris and open burning | 17 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | National Forests in Alabama | ROBINSON BOTTOM |
| 17 September 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160917-1 |
| 17 September 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 70 acres | National Forests in Alabama | FLAT MOUNTAIN |
| 11 September 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 4.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 12 August 2000 | Debris and open burning | 40 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 12 August 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 90 acres | National Forests in Alabama | MULL MOUNTAIN |
| 12 August 1999 | Natural | 76 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
16 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Speake in 16 storm reports between 2003 and 2023: 9 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 2 tornado, 2 hail. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2006 | Tornado (F1) | Speake | $25,000 | A tornado touched down and demolished a large barn and uprooted several trees near highway 157 in a continuous path toward the Morgan county line. |
| April 2006 | Hail | Speake | $15,000 | Golf ball size hail was reported. A few vehicles were slightly damaged by the large hail. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Speake | $10,000 | A metal roof was peeled back several feet off of a barn. Doors were also blown out. Gates were blown down. |
| February 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Speake | $6,000 | Trees were blown down on CR 203. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Speake | $2,000 | A tree was blown down on highway 157 south of Moulton. |
| September 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Speake | $500 | A tree was knocked down. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Speake | $500 | Two trees were knocked down in the Oakville district near Speake. |
| March 2023 | Tornado (EF0) | Speake | - | The tornado likely first touched down between County Road 203 and Highway 157 in far eastern Lawrence County. Minor roof damage to chicken houses was noted at this location before the tornado crossed the highway. Sporadic tree damage was observed near the Highway 36 and CR 200 intersection. Peak wind speeds of 74 mph were estimated. The tornado then moved into Morgan County toward Danville. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Speake | - | Trees were knocked down in the Speake community near CR 200. |
| April 2011 | Hail | Speake | - | Nickel sized hail was reported. |
| November 2010 | Flash Flood | Speake | - | Flash flooding was reported on County Road 203 in Speake. |
| April 2009 | Flood | Speake | - | Prolonged heavy rainfall caused water to flood CR 203 and 208. |
| April 2005 | Flash Flood | Speake | - | Several inches of water over the intersection of County Road 203 and County Road 208 resulted in a road closure. |
| August 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Speake | - | A tree and a few power lines were blown down. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Speake | - | A few power lines were blown down due to thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Speake | - | numerous trees and power lines down. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jesseton | 0.8 miles | 17 | |
| Oakville | 2.1 miles | 17 | |
| Aldridge Grove | 3.9 miles | 17 | |
| Five Points | 4.1 miles | 17 | |
| Fairfield | 4.2 miles | 17 | |
| Pinhook | 4.5 miles | 18 | |
| Kitchens Mill | 5.1 miles | 17 | |
| Wren | 6.8 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 Speake | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7574224 | 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 160652. 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.










