BlockBefore

Watson, Alabama

28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Brookside census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35117. It lies near Lassiter Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Brookside quadrangle. It stands 548 feet above sea level.

Watson within Jefferson County

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 28 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

203 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 203 fires within 5 miles of Watson between 1994 and 2020, burning about 2,473 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 97 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/incendiarism97
Debris and open burning55
Missing data/not specified/undetermined26
Recreation and ceremony12
Railroad operations and maintenance6
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Natural2
Other causes1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
7 September 1997Arson/incendiarism20 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1995Railroad operations and maintenance7.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 2003Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreAlabama Forestry CommissionPICKLE DRIVE, AL
5 September 1998Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 1998Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 2006Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
23 September 1999Recreation and ceremony20 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
21 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined28 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionNER-20140921-002

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jefferson County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Watson: 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay. 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
Jef 1 Clay ProspectClayProspect

Every working recorded in Jefferson 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
Mineral Springs0.5 miles28
Fieldstown1.4 miles27
Dogtown1.4 miles28
Forestdale by the Brook1.5 miles28
Brookside2.0 miles28
Scarlet Town2.1 miles28
Upper Coalburg2.1 miles30
New Town2.2 miles28

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 WatsonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3710680The 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 157222. 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.