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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

West Blocton within Bibb County

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

Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

West 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.

YearPeople Change
20101,240
20201,217-23 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 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

274 since 1994

Regional 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 burning114
Arson/incendiarism99
Recreation and ceremony23
Missing data/not specified/undetermined21
Smoking7
Misuse of fire by a minor5
Equipment and vehicle use4
Natural1

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 1995Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
9 September 1995Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
9 September 1995Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
8 September 1996Debris and open burning1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1995Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20200906-2
6 September 1995Recreation and ceremony1.2 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 2000Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Bibb County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 16 shown

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Woodstock QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
BushIronUnknown
Dago HollowIronUnknown
GreeleyIronUnknown
ShamblinIronUnknown
StandifordIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown

Every working recorded in Bibb County

Storms near this place

26 since 1994

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 1998Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton$15,000Trees were downed falling on a house and a church in West Blocton.
April 1997Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton$12,000Numerous trees were down including one that fell onto a house. There was damage to several roofs in West Blocton.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton$8,000Trees were blown down and a few shingles were blown off.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton$5,000Trees and powerlines were reported down around West Blocton.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton$5,000Trees were down along CR 24 and CR 27 near West Blocton.
April 2005Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton$4,000A few trees were blown down across the northern part of the county.
February 1997Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton$4,000no account filed
November 2006Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton$2,000A few trees were knocked down in north and northwest Bibb County.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton$2,000A few trees were blown down on County Road 9.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton$2,000A few trees and power lines were blown down in West Blocton.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton$1,000A few small trees were knocked down in West Blocton.
December 2024Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton-A few trees were downed around the West Blocton area.
January 2020Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton-Numerous trees uprooted and power lines downed between the towns of West Blocton and Woodstock.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton-Several trees uprooted in the West Blocton area.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton-Two trees were downed in West Blockton.
July 2006HailWest Blocton-Reported on Highway 9, between Vance and West Blocton.
April 2004HailWest Blocton-Penny size hail was observed in extreme northern Bibb County.
May 2003HailWest Blocton-Pea to penny size hail was observed across northeastern Bibb County from near West Blocton to near the Shelby County line.
May 2001HailWest Blocton-One inch diameter size hail was observed just south of West Blocton on SR 5.
March 2000HailWest Blocton-Dime size hail was observed in West Blocton.
December 2000HailWest Blocton-Nickel size hail was reported near West Blocton.
May 1998HailWest Blocton-Dime size hail was reported in West Blocton.
January 1995Thunderstorm WindWest Blocton-Bibb County Sheriff reported trees down in Statesville about one miles west of West Blocton.
June 1995HailWest Blocton-Dime-size hail was reported by the Bibb County Sheriff's Department at West Blocton in western Bibb County.
November 1994HailWest Blocton-Half to three-quarter inch hail was reported at West Blocton by the Bibb County Sheriff's office.
December 1996Funnel CloudWest Blocton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Bibb 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
McGrawtown0.3 miles18
Richtown0.6 miles18
Bucktown (historical)0.9 miles19
Burmah (historical)1.0 miles19
Corinne (historical)1.0 miles19
Blocton (historical)1.2 miles19
Primitive Ridge1.2 miles18
Smith Hill1.3 miles19

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 BloctonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q66521The 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.