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Photograph of Old Jail (Gordo, Alabama)
Photograph by Mthunter58, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Old Jail

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

From the record

“The Old Jail, also known as the Gordo Jail and Mayor's Office, is a historic former jail and office building in Gordo, Alabama. The two-story brick structure was completed in 1914.”

Wikipedia article Old Jail (Gordo, Alabama), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 7 National Register listings published here for Pickens County · listed in 1974 · category: Building.

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

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. NE corner of Church St. and 1st Ave., Gordo, 35466
  • When was it listed? December 1974
  • Category. building
  • Census division. Gordo
  • National Register reference number. 74000434 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

76 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 76 fires within 5 miles of Old Jail between 1994 and 2016, burning about 894 acres in total. None started naturally. 21 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 burning22
Arson/incendiarism21
Railroad operations and maintenance14
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Recreation and ceremony5
Equipment and vehicle use3
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
6 September 1998Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1995Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1995Debris and open burning1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2000Debris and open burningunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
26 September 1998Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
12 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionNWR-20130912-001
9 August 2000Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Every fire recorded in Pickens County

Storms near this property

32 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gordo, the town this property stands in, in 32 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 13 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 3 flash flood. 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
January 2008Tornado (EF1)Gordo$50,000The tornado touched down between Gordo and the Tuscaloosa County line, near the intersection of Ben Elmore Road and CR-33. From there, it travelled east-northeast before crossing into Tuscaloosa County. A barn and several old chicken houses on CR-33 east of Gordo sustained heavy damage.
April 1996Thunderstorm WindGordo$30,000no account filed
June 1997Flash FloodGordo$25,000Heavy rains forced the evacuation of between 7 and 10 families from their homes off US 82 in Gordo. Heavy rain also damaged a portion of Preacher Street.
May 1998Tornado (F0)Gordo$25,000no account filed
April 1998Tornado (F3)Gordo$15,000no account filed
April 2011Tornado (EF1)Gordo$11,000This tornado developed along a Quasi-Linear Convective System in far eastern Pickens County, 5.5 miles south southeast of Gordo and moved northeastward for 3.46 miles. It crossed into Tuscaloosa County just to the west of Holman, south of AL Hwy 140. This tornado continued for almost 19 miles in Tuscaloosa County before dissipating 2.5 miles east northeast of Samantha. The tornado touched down east of AL Hwy 63, along Grover Plate Rd where it uprooted many hardwood trees. The tornado continued to cause tree damage as it moved northeast and approached the Tuscaloosa County line. The tornado damage in Pickens County was consistent with an EF1 rating and winds of 90 mph.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindGordo$10,000A tree fell on a vehicle.
May 1998HailGordo$10,000Golf ball size hail was reported by storm spotters, near US 82 and SR 86.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindGordo$8,000no account filed
November 1997HailGordo$6,000Golf ball size hail was reported in Gordo, in the eastern part of the county.
March 2000HailGordo$5,000Golfball size hail was reported near Gordo.
March 2000HailGordo$4,000Quarter to half dollar size hail was reported in Gordo.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindGordo$1,000Several trees were blown down on CR-57, north of Gordo.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindGordo$1,000Several large limbs were blown down onto AL-86, near Gordo.
April 2005HailGordo$1,000Penny size hail was reported near Gordo.
April 2005HailGordo$1,000Penny size hail was reported in Gordo.
March 2025HailGordo-Social media photos of half dollar to ping pong ball size hail in Gordo.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindGordo-Several trees were downed in the Gordo area.
December 2024Thunderstorm WindGordo-Trees and power lines were downed on County Road 9 near Gordo.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindGordo-Trees uprooted and power lines downed along Mars Hill Road.
June 2023HailGordo-Baseball size hail reported southwest of Gordo with several car windows shattered and destroyed.
April 2021HailGordo-Large hail reported near the town of Gordo.
March 2021HailGordo-Tennis ball size hail reported near the town of Gordo.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindGordo-Several trees uprooted in the town of Gordo.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindGordo-Several trees uprooted and snapped in the town of Gordo.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindGordo-Several trees uprooted and power lines downed near the intersection of Highway 82 and 2nd Street Southwest in the town of Gordo.
January 2015Flash FloodGordo-Road washed out on Old Vienna Road near the intersection of Dr. Kirk Road. Several other roads flooded across the county.
September 2012Flash FloodGordo-Approximately 7 to 10 inches of water was reported covering Highway 82 in downtown Gordo. The bridges at 1st Avenue East and Ben Elmore Road were washed out. Also, twenty-five families had to be evacuated from their homes in the area.
May 2001HailGordo-Dime size hail fell in Gordo. One large tree was blown down blocking a road.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindGordo-Trees were blown down in Gordo.
March 2015HailGordo-no account filed
June 2008HailGordo-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Pickens 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.

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 74000434 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Pickens CountyAll 7 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.
  • 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.