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.
Population over time
2 figuresSteele 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,043 | |
| 2020 | 992 | -51 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 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.
- 1889 USGS Springville quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Springville quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1947 USGS Steele quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1947 USGS Steele quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Steele quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Birmingham North quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
137 since 1994Regional 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/undetermined | 47 |
| Debris and open burning | 42 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 36 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Other causes | 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 1995 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 8 September 1998 | Natural | 8.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 3 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 28 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | 35 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160928-30 |
| 24 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | NER-20150924-002 |
| 24 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greasy Cove | Manganese, Nickel, Cobalt | Occurrence | ||
| Greasy Cove Prospect | Manganese, Cobalt | Past Producer | Pyrolusite | |
| Greasy Cove Deposit | Manganese | Past Producer | 1934 | |
| Sewell Deposit | Manganese | Past Producer | 1949 | |
| Brothers Mill Gap/Moodys Gap | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Garigues Gap | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Greasy Cove Area Prospect | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Iron | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
16 since 1995Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2002 | Tornado (F1) | Steele | $40,000 | A 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 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Steele | $8,000 | Numerous trees and power lines were down in Steele near CR 42 and US 11. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Steele | $5,000 | Multiple trees and powerlines were downed on Bynum Road, near the town of Steele. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Steele | $5,000 | Several trees and power lines were knocked down across the far northern part of the county. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Steele | $3,000 | Chandler Mountain Road, west of Steele, had to be completely closed due to multiple trees that were blown down across it. |
| April 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Steele | $2,000 | A metal roof was blown off a residence at US-411 and Loop Road, east of Ashville. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Steele | $2,000 | A few trees were blown down on Moores Street, in Steele. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Steele | $2,000 | Trees were blown down onto I-59, at mile marker 174. |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Steele | $2,000 | Two large trees were blown down and blocked US 11 near Steele. |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Steele | $2,000 | no account filed |
| April 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Steele | - | Multiple trees were downed in the Steele area. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Steele | - | Nickel size hail was observed in Steele. |
| June 1995 | Hail | Steele | - | Golf ball-size hail was reported at Steele. Motorists on Interstate 59 were being forced to stop because of the hail. |
| April 2006 | Hail | Steele | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Steele | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Hail | Steele | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gilbert | 2.4 miles | 22 | |
| Chandler Mountain | 2.8 miles | 21 | |
| Hood | 4.3 miles | 22 | |
| Ferguson Crossroad | 5.2 miles | 21 | |
| Whitney Junction | 6.9 miles | 19 | |
| Whitney | 6.9 miles | 19 | |
| Ashville | 7.6 miles | 19 | |
| Pinedale Shores | 9.2 miles | 19 |
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 Steele | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q67349 | 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 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.








