BlockBefore

Watson, Alabama

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Cedar Bluff-Gaylesville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35973. The Survey maps it on the Gaylesville quadrangle.

Watson within Cherokee County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 20 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

350 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 350 fires within 5 miles of Watson between 1992 and 2020, burning about 6,675 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 247 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/incendiarism247
Debris and open burning51
Missing data/not specified/undetermined29
Recreation and ceremony10
Equipment and vehicle use5
Natural3
Smoking3
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Fireworks1

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 2016Debris and open burning10 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160909-15
8 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2007Debris and open burning90 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1999Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1999Arson/incendiarism9.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1999Arson/incendiarism12 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1997Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cherokee County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 25 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 25 workings within 5 miles of Watson: 14 occurrences, 7 past producers, 3 prospects, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Clay, Manganese. 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
Che 6 Clay ProspectClayProspect
Wilder Manganese ProspectManganeseOccurrence
Gaylesville AreaIronPast ProducerHematite
J A Pilgrim Iron MineIronPast Producer
Rilgrim Land AreaIronPast ProducerHematite
UnnamedIronUnknown
Unnamed MineIronPast Producer
Unnamed MineIronPast Producer
Unnamed MineIronPast Producer
Unnamed MineIronPast Producer

Every working recorded in Cherokee County

Storms near this place

5 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Watson in 5 storm reports between 2009 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2025Thunderstorm WindWatson$500Trees were downed sporadically north of Gaylesville, including County Road 91, County Road 133 between Blanche and Broomtown, County Road 15 at Henderson Hill Cemetery, and County Road 108.
February 2009Thunderstorm WindWatson$500Several trees were blown down along AL-35, near Watson.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindWatson-Several trees uprooted onto roadways in the Gaylesville and Broomtown areas.
November 2019HailWatson-Dime size hail reported near the intersection of Highway 35 and County Road 41.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindWatson-A tree was reported down across County Road 114, near Alabama Highway 35.

Every storm recorded in Cherokee 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
Waterloo Springs0.9 miles20
Ringgold1.4 miles20
Grassland2.2 miles20
Taft3.0 miles19
Blanche3.1 miles20
Rhinehart3.1 miles20
Dewey3.5 miles20
Broomtown3.6 miles20

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 128636. 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.