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Photograph of Avondale Mill Historic District
Photograph by Chris Pruitt, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Avandale Mill Historic District

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

From the record

“The Avondale Mill Historic District is a former mill village in Pell City, Alabama. Part of the Avondale Mills, the area is architecturally significant for the first sawtooth roofed mill in Alabama, and the mill village represents a relatively intact example of an early 20th century company town.”

Wikipedia article Avondale Mill Historic District, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 14 National Register listings published here for St. Clair County · listed in 2000 · category: District.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

Fires near this property

132 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 132 fires within 5 miles of Avandale Mill Historic District between 1994 and 2020, burning about 1,450 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 41 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 burning64
Arson/incendiarism41
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Recreation and ceremony6
Smoking5
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Natural2

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 1998Debris and open burning5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
9 September 1998Arson/incendiarism10 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 1995Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1995Misuse of fire by a minor3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 1998Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 2007Arson/incendiarism8.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2000Debris and open burning5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 2019Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20190920-17

Every fire recorded in St. Clair County

Mines and quarries near this property

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Avandale Mill Historic District: 6 unknowns, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Iron, 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
Riverside PitClayProducer
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown
UnnamedIronUnknown

Every working recorded in St. Clair County

Storms near this property

38 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pell City, the town this property stands in, in 38 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 24 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 2 tornado, 2 funnel cloud. The reports record 1 death and 2 injuries. 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
April 2011Thunderstorm WindPell City1 killedStorm damage in and around the cities of Pell City and Riverside was found to be consistent with straight-line winds, with peak wind gusts estimated between 80 and 100 mph. There was a diffuse and intermittent, yet discernible, swath of wind damage that extended from just west of the St. Clair County Courthouse, northeastward across Pell City, Industrial Park Drive, Interstate 20, and through Riverside. Additional isolated wind damage was noted to the south and east of this main damage swath. The most significant damage across the area were several large trees that were uprooted, causing damage to homes and structures. One fatality was caused when a large oak tree was uprooted and fell on a manufactured home. Two metal buildings received direct damage from the winds; the damage on both of these buildings appears to have been associated with the failure of large doors. Dozens of homes in the area received minor roof damage as well.
November 2001Tornado (F2)Pell City2 hurt, $500,000A tornado rated an F2 began weakly on the west-southwest side of Pell City just behind the school at 3:10 pm. The tornado traveled on an east-northeast path downing a communication tower at the EMA/911 office and doing minor roof damage. The storm then crossed over downtown Pell City where a number of buildings sustained light to moderate roof damage along with awnings damaged and some windows broken. The tornado crossed US 231 and became very weak, possibly lifting for a little more than a mile, before slamming into a number of buildings in an industrial park. Some of the greatest destruction was done here. The tornado crossed Interstate 20 and ended after damaging a couple of houses on Sprayberry Road at approximately 3:17 pm.The tornado path was 4.5 miles long and approximately 100 yards wide at the widest. No deaths occurred in this tornado but there were two injuries, both classified as minor.Beginning: 33 34.926/86 17.647 Ending: 33 37.039/86 14.029
May 2003Tornado (F1)Pell City$85,000This was the first of two tornadoes to touch down in St. Clair County. It began at the intersection of SR174 and Cook Springs Road northwest of Pell City. The tornado traveled southeasterly through the Bowman Circle and Stewarts areas crossing Mineral Springs Road and lifting just before reaching Interstate 20 (between exits 156 and 158). The tornado downed many trees and power lines and also damaged a few buildings in the area. At least one mobile home was destroyed.Beg: 33 38.519/86 21.652 End: 33 36.308/86 17.702
June 2007Thunderstorm WindPell City$50,000Scattered tree damage was reported all around Pell City, at least one of which fell onto a house. The roof of a junior high school, and a nearby city services building, both received damage. The batting cage at a high school ball field was blown into a fence, damaging about 100 feet of the fence. Several storage sheds in a home improvement store were blown down an embankment and heavily damaged.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindPell City$28,000Thunderstorm wind cut a swath of damage from a rural area across some homes in the eastern section of St. Clair County just north of Riverside. Several homes sustained minor damage on Lock 4 Road.
February 2000Thunderstorm WindPell City$20,000Trees were knocked down along SR 31. One of the downed trees fell onto a house.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindPell City$15,000Several trees and power lines were blown down in the Pine Harbor area. One of the trees landed on a building at the Pine Harbor Country Club.
June 1996Thunderstorm WindPell City$15,000no account filed
April 2001HailPell City$8,000One and one half inch diameter size hail was reported in Pell City.
April 1996HailPell City$8,000no account filed
May 2003Thunderstorm WindPell City$6,000Several trees were knocked down in extreme southern St. Clair County.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindPell City$6,000Large limbs and a few trees were down in Pell City and Moody, in the southern part of the county.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindPell City$5,000Trees were blown down along SR 174 in Pell City.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindPell City$5,000Trees and power lines were blown down just north of Pell City.
January 1997HailPell City$5,000no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindPell City$4,000Several trees were reported down in the Chula Vista area about five miles west of Pell City.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindPell City$3,000Numerous trees were blown down around Pell City.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindPell City$3,000Trees were reported down in the area about five miles north of Pell City.
February 2011Thunderstorm WindPell City$2,000Several trees blown down in and around Pell City.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindPell City$2,000Trees down in Argo, New London, and Wattsville.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindPell City$2,000A few trees were knocked down in Pell City.
February 2025Thunderstorm WindPell City-Trees were downed in the Pell City area.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindPell City-Numerous trees were downed across Pell City.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindPell City-Several trees were downed around Pell City and along I-20 near Leeds. Along Highway 231 south of Pell City, a storage building at a business had metal torn off and wrapped around power lines.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindPell City-Several trees uprooted across roadways in Pell City.
June 2023HailPell City-Quarter size hail reported in Pell City.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindPell City-Several trees uprooted in Pell City.
June 2020HailPell City-Large hail reported in Pell City.
March 2013Thunderstorm WindPell City-Duran Junior High School sustained rood damage, as well as the Press Box at the football field. Additionally, an airport hanger door was blown in and damaged an airplane at the St. Clair County Airport.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindPell City-Trees were reported down within the city limits of Pell City.
September 2006Funnel CloudPell City-Police reported a funnel cloud looking south from the intersection of Al-174 and US-231, toward Pell City.
July 2004HailPell City-Nickel size hail was reported in the Pell City area.
March 1995HailPell City-Hail slightly smaller than a quarter was reported in Pell City.
April 1995Thunderstorm WindPell City-Numerous large tree limbs were reported down in Pell City.
April 2008HailPell City-no account filed
April 2006HailPell City-no account filed
April 2006Funnel CloudPell City-no account filed
January 1996Heavy RainPell City-no account filed

Every storm recorded in St. Clair County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

1 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Pell City Downtown Historic District0.5 miles2001

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 00001030 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
St. Clair CountyAll 14 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • 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.