Wessington, Alabama
19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Jemison census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35085. The Survey maps it on the Montevallo quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 19 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.
- 1890 USGS Bessemer quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Bessemer quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1910 USGS Montevallo quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1953 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Montevallo SE quadrangle1:24000
- 1980 USGS Montevallo quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1984 USGS Birmingham South quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
240 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 240 fires within 5 miles of Wessington between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,903 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 63 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 107 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 63 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 32 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 16 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 5 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 3.1 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 8.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 2000 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 2000 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 27 September 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | ECR-20140927-001 |
| 24 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 24 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 23 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20190923-21 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Wessington: 5 producers, 2 prospects, 1 unknown, 1 occurrence. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jemison Mine and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Jemison Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Unconsolidated Sediments | |
| Nelson Iron Prospect | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Chi 1 Clay Prospect | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Frye Shale Pit | Clay | Producer | ||
| Jemison | Clay | Producer | ||
| Jenkins Pit | Clay | Producer | ||
| Wessington Shale Prospect | Clay | Prospect |
Storms near this place
3 since 2011Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wessington in 3 storm reports between 2011 and 2023: 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wessington | $1,000 | A tree was blown down across County Road 73, northwest of Jemison. |
| March 2021 | Tornado (EF1) | Wessington | - | National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northwest Chilton County and determined that it was consistent with an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds near 88 mph.||A strong, long-track tornado traveled across Hale, Perry, Bibb, Chilton, and Shelby Counties during the afternoon of March 25, 2021. It is estimated that the tornado had a 98 minute life span, with a path length of 80 miles. The tornado crossed from Bibb County and into northwest Chilton County just south of County Road 108. The tornado traveled northeast crossing County Road 73 and Highway 155 where numerous tress were uprooted and snapped. The tornado crossed into Shelby County near the intersection of County Road 201 and 128. |
| June 2023 | Hail | Wessington | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Grove | 1.3 miles | 15 | |
| Kalona | 1.6 miles | 15 | |
| Center Hill | 2.1 miles | 15 | |
| Ocampo | 2.1 miles | 19 | |
| Rocky Mount | 3.3 miles | 15 | |
| Minooka | 3.3 miles | 19 | |
| Jemison | 3.4 miles | 15 | |
| Mars Hill | 4.4 miles | 15 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 157235. 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.








