BlockBefore

Steele, Alabama

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Ashville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35987. The Survey maps it on the Steele quadrangle. 992 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 577 feet above sea level.

Steele within St. Clair County

Population over time

2 figures

Steele fell from 1,043 to 992 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
20101,043
2020992-51 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 22 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

137 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 137 fires within 5 miles of Steele between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,221 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 36 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined47
Debris and open burning42
Arson/incendiarism36
Recreation and ceremony5
Smoking2
Equipment and vehicle use1
Natural1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Other causes1

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 burning10 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
8 September 1998Natural8.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2002Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2002Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 1995Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2016Debris and open burning35 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160928-30
24 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionNER-20150924-002
24 September 1999Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in St. Clair County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Steele: 5 past producers, 3 occurrences, 2 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Manganese, Nickel, Cobalt, Cobalt. 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
Greasy CoveManganese, Nickel, CobaltOccurrence
Greasy Cove ProspectManganese, CobaltPast ProducerPyrolusite
Greasy Cove DepositManganesePast Producer1934
Sewell DepositManganesePast Producer1949
Brothers Mill Gap/Moodys GapIronPast Producer
Garigues GapIronPast Producer
Greasy Cove Area ProspectIronOccurrence
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence

Every working recorded in St. Clair County

Storms near this place

16 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Steele in 16 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 10 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 1 tornado. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
November 2002Tornado (F1)Steele$40,000A weak tornado touched down on Chandler Mountain causing minor damage to about three houses and downing several trees. The tornado came off the mountain (plateau) and damaged one structured and downed trees at the base of the mountain before dissipating. No injuries were reported.Beg: 33 57.002/86 15.331 End: 33 57.482/86 11.950
May 1997Thunderstorm WindSteele$8,000Numerous trees and power lines were down in Steele near CR 42 and US 11.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindSteele$5,000Multiple trees and powerlines were downed on Bynum Road, near the town of Steele.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindSteele$5,000Several trees and power lines were knocked down across the far northern part of the county.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindSteele$3,000Chandler Mountain Road, west of Steele, had to be completely closed due to multiple trees that were blown down across it.
April 2009Thunderstorm WindSteele$2,000A metal roof was blown off a residence at US-411 and Loop Road, east of Ashville.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindSteele$2,000A few trees were blown down on Moores Street, in Steele.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindSteele$2,000Trees were blown down onto I-59, at mile marker 174.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindSteele$2,000Two large trees were blown down and blocked US 11 near Steele.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindSteele$2,000no account filed
April 2025Thunderstorm WindSteele-Multiple trees were downed in the Steele area.
May 2004HailSteele-Nickel size hail was observed in Steele.
June 1995HailSteele-Golf ball-size hail was reported at Steele. Motorists on Interstate 59 were being forced to stop because of the hail.
April 2006HailSteele-no account filed
April 2006HailSteele-no account filed
August 2000HailSteele-no account filed

Every storm recorded in St. Clair 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
Gilbert2.4 miles22
Chandler Mountain2.8 miles21
Hood4.3 miles22
Ferguson Crossroad5.2 miles21
Whitney Junction6.9 miles19
Whitney6.9 miles19
Ashville7.6 miles19
Pinedale Shores9.2 miles19

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 SteeleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q67349The 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 164867. 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.