West Blocton, Alabama
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1899 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the West Blocton census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35184. It stands on Hill Creek. The Survey maps it on the West Blocton East quadrangle. 1,217 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 495 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in West Blocton
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
Blocton Italian Catholic Cemeterylisted 1999
Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record
- Main Street (Commercial Streetscapes), County Road 24, West Bloctonfederal building survey, 2 photographs
Population over time
2 figuresWest Blocton fell from 1,240 to 1,217 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 | 1,240 | |
| 2020 | 1,217 | -23 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 20 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.
- 1899 USGS Brookwood quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1934 USGS Blocton quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1934 USGS Blocton quadrangle1:48000
- 1940 USGS Blocton quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS West Blocton West quadrangle1:24000
- 1980 USGS West Blocton East quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Tuscaloosa quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
274 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 274 fires within 5 miles of West Blocton between 1994 and 2020, burning about 2,677 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 99 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 | 114 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 99 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 23 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 21 |
| Smoking | 7 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Natural | 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 | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 9 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 9 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 8 September 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 7 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20200906-2 |
| 6 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.2 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 3 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 16 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of West Blocton: 12 unknowns, 3 occurrences, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodstock Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Bush | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Dago Hollow | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Greeley | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Shamblin | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Standiford | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown |
Storms near this place
26 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Blocton in 26 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 16 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 1 funnel cloud. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | $15,000 | Trees were downed falling on a house and a church in West Blocton. |
| April 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | $12,000 | Numerous trees were down including one that fell onto a house. There was damage to several roofs in West Blocton. |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | $8,000 | Trees were blown down and a few shingles were blown off. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | $5,000 | Trees and powerlines were reported down around West Blocton. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | $5,000 | Trees were down along CR 24 and CR 27 near West Blocton. |
| April 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | $4,000 | A few trees were blown down across the northern part of the county. |
| February 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | $4,000 | no account filed |
| November 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | $2,000 | A few trees were knocked down in north and northwest Bibb County. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | $2,000 | A few trees were blown down on County Road 9. |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | $2,000 | A few trees and power lines were blown down in West Blocton. |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | $1,000 | A few small trees were knocked down in West Blocton. |
| December 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | - | A few trees were downed around the West Blocton area. |
| January 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | - | Numerous trees uprooted and power lines downed between the towns of West Blocton and Woodstock. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | - | Several trees uprooted in the West Blocton area. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | - | Two trees were downed in West Blockton. |
| July 2006 | Hail | West Blocton | - | Reported on Highway 9, between Vance and West Blocton. |
| April 2004 | Hail | West Blocton | - | Penny size hail was observed in extreme northern Bibb County. |
| May 2003 | Hail | West Blocton | - | Pea to penny size hail was observed across northeastern Bibb County from near West Blocton to near the Shelby County line. |
| May 2001 | Hail | West Blocton | - | One inch diameter size hail was observed just south of West Blocton on SR 5. |
| March 2000 | Hail | West Blocton | - | Dime size hail was observed in West Blocton. |
| December 2000 | Hail | West Blocton | - | Nickel size hail was reported near West Blocton. |
| May 1998 | Hail | West Blocton | - | Dime size hail was reported in West Blocton. |
| January 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Blocton | - | Bibb County Sheriff reported trees down in Statesville about one miles west of West Blocton. |
| June 1995 | Hail | West Blocton | - | Dime-size hail was reported by the Bibb County Sheriff's Department at West Blocton in western Bibb County. |
| November 1994 | Hail | West Blocton | - | Half to three-quarter inch hail was reported at West Blocton by the Bibb County Sheriff's office. |
| December 1996 | Funnel Cloud | West Blocton | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| McGrawtown | 0.3 miles | 18 | |
| Richtown | 0.6 miles | 18 | |
| Bucktown (historical) | 0.9 miles | 19 | |
| Burmah (historical) | 1.0 miles | 19 | |
| Corinne (historical) | 1.0 miles | 19 | |
| Blocton (historical) | 1.2 miles | 19 | |
| Primitive Ridge | 1.2 miles | 18 | |
| Smith Hill | 1.3 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 West Blocton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q66521 | 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 153935. 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.









