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Williams, Alabama

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Gadsden census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35906. It stands on Rook Creek. The Survey maps it on the Dunaway Mountain quadrangle.

Williams within Etowah County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 22 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

120 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 120 fires within 5 miles of Williams between 1994 and 2019, burning about 613 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 30 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined47
Debris and open burning37
Arson/incendiarism30
Smoking2
Recreation and ceremony2
Natural1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
5 September 1995Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2002Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1995Debris and open burning7.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 1995Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
24 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionNER-20150924-002
22 September 1997Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 2010Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
17 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Etowah County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Williams: 4 past producers, 3 unknowns, 2 occurrences, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Barium-Barite, Lead, 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
Dunaway Mtn. Dolomite QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Pete Green ProspectBarium-Barite, LeadOccurrence
Southside PitClayPast Producer
Will MorrisBarium-BaritePast ProducerResidual
Will Morris MineBarium-BaritePast Producer
Ashville TractIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
Unnamed MineIronOccurrence
Unnamed ProspectIronProspect

Every working recorded in Etowah County

Storms near this place

5 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Williams in 5 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. 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 2008Thunderstorm WindWilliams$154,000A thunderstorm downburst produced an extensive area of damage in southern Etowah County, just south of the Southside Community. The damage swath extended from the southern end of Babe Jackson Drive, northeastward for about 3 miles, to AL-77. The heaviest concentration of damage was in the Grant Drive, Routon Circle, Meadow Circle, Nabors Drive, Broughton Springs Road, and Mountain Top Road areas. At least 27 homes and other structures, and 2 vehicles, received minor to moderate damage due to the wind and from fallen trees. Around 100 trees were either uprooted or snapped off. Peak wind gusts were estimated around 100 mph.
April 2025HailWilliams-Golf ball size hail fell in the Rainbow City area.
March 2018HailWilliams-Large hail reported in the Riddle Bend area.
March 2018Tornado (EF2)Williams-National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed damage in northern southern Etowah County and determined that the damage was consistent with an EF2 tornado, with maximum sustained winds near 120 mph. This tornado began in St. Clair County and crossed into Etowah County at Neely Henry Lake. The tornado crossed Highway 77 near Leota Road where numerous trees were either snapped off or uprooted and several structures were damaged by falling trees. The tornado continued east where it narrowed and further intensified as it approached Green Valley Road. The most intense damage was observed along Green Valley Road and Matt Smith Road where several homes suffered complete loss of roofing material and exterior walls. The tornado continued eastward several miles and weakened as it entered Calhoun County.
March 2015HailWilliams-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Etowah 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
Etowahton (historical)1.3 miles22
Gum Springs (historical)2.4 miles22
Old Harmony3.4 miles22
Southside4.8 miles22
Rainbow City5.0 miles22
Brannon Springs (historical)5.0 miles22
Riverside5.2 miles22
Morgans Crossroads5.2 miles22

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 128997. 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.