Byler Road

Built in 1822. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

From the record

“Byler Road is the oldest public road in Alabama still in use today. Constructed in the mid-1820s, it connected Courtland near the Tennessee River with Tuscaloosa near the Black Warrior River.”
Wikipedia article Byler Road, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 47 National Register listings published here for Tuscaloosa County · listed in 1974 · category: Site · built in 1822.

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

The listing

Address. 11 mi. N of Northport, off U.S. 43, Northport, 35475
When was it listed? November 1974
Category. site
Census division. Samantha
When was it built? 1822
National Register reference number. 74000438 - 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

81 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 81 fires within 5 miles of Byler Road between 1994 and 2020, burning about 759 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 12 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	37
Recreation and ceremony	12
Arson/incendiarism	12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	9
Natural	4
Equipment and vehicle use	4
Misuse of fire by a minor	2
Power generation/transmission/distribution	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
8 September 1999	Debris and open burning	6.0 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
5 September 2000	Natural	20 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
23 September 1997	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
21 September 2004	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	4.0 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
20 September 1997	Arson/incendiarism	2.0 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
2 September 2014	Natural	14 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	NWR-20140902-001
2 September 1997	Debris and open burning	5.0 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named
17 September 2003	Arson/incendiarism	10 acres	Alabama Forestry Commission	not named

Every fire recorded in Tuscaloosa County

Storms near this property

60 of 62 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Northport, the town this property stands in, in 62 storm reports between 1994 and 2019: 31 hail, 21 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 2 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
November 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$200,000	The roof was blown off an apartment complex on Rice Mine Road. Ten apartments were subsequently damaged by heavy rain. The roof pieces landed on 7 automobiles causing major damage to the vehicles. A gas station awning was ripped off and carried several hundred yards away. Several trees and power lines were blown down in the area. The Collins-Riverside School sustained moderate damage as part of the roof was torn off and the rooms were flooded.
April 2005	Tornado (F0)	Northport	$95,000	National Weather Service meteorologists conducted a survey across areas just north northwest of Northport. It has been determined the area had experienced an F0 tornado, with winds of estimatedaround 65 mph. The tornado touched down around 416 AM CDT about one half mile west of the CR 86 and US 43 intersection. The tornado then moved northeast, crossing SR 69 and CR 47 before lifting near the end of CR 87 around 424 AM CDT. The tornado damage path was 6.9 miles long and 100 yards wide at its widest point. Numerous trees and power lines were snapped off along the path. The most concentrated damage was near the end of the path from the far southeastern tip of Lake Tuscaloosa to near the end of CR 87. In this area, several homes received minor damage and two homes received significant roof damage due to fallen trees. This storm also produced large hail. The largest hail reported was golf ball size and occurred across the southern parts of Lake Tuscaloosa.Begin: 33 14.95/87 36.40 End: 33 16.27/87 29.46
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$50,000	Numerous trees and power lines were downed along Highway 43 near Samantha in northern Tuscaloosa County. Trees to one and a half feet in diameter were reported down with thunderstorm wind in the Northport area. Bleachers were turned over and light poles were downed at Kentook Park in the Northport area.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$30,000	A few trees were blown down in Northport. One of the trees destroyed a mobile home.
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$20,000	A tree fell on a mobile home in the Mt. Olive community.
May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$18,000	no account filed
May 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$15,000	Storm spotters reported trees down and roof damage to a building.
March 2000	Tornado (F0)	Northport	$15,000	A weak tornado moved northeast through mainly timber land owned by Gulf States Paper Company, north of the Black Warrior River. A few homes near the beginning of the path, and a few in the middle of the path, sustained roof damage. Numerous trees were blown down or snapped off throughout the entire track of the tornado. Beginning: 33 19.678/87 30.549 Ending: 33 20.926/87 27.552
March 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$12,000	Thunderstorm wind damaged a school one mile north of Northport.
August 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$10,000	A 120 foot radio tower was blown down, about a half mile south of the intersection of AL-69 and US-82.
May 2005	Flash Flood	Northport	$10,000	Several roads were temporarily impassable due to high water in and around Northport.
May 1998	Hail	Northport	$10,000	no account filed
May 1998	Hail	Northport	$10,000	no account filed
May 2003	Hail	Northport	$8,000	Golf ball size hail was reported in and around Northport.
December 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$8,000	Trees and power lines were blown down just west of Lake Tuscaloosa. A trailer was blown off its foundation, a roof was partially torn off a house, and some shingles were removed from a church roof. All the damage was located just off SR 69.
April 2005	Hail	Northport	$8,000	no account filed
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$6,000	no account filed
May 2003	Lightning	Northport	$5,000	Lightning apparently struck an electrical breaker cutting off power to about 1,000 people according to Alabama Power Company. Power was restored about 35 minutes later.
June 2003	Hail	Northport	$5,000	Nickel to quarter size hail fell northeast of Northport and Tuscaloosa. The hail was observed on Lock 15 Road between Lake Nicol and the Black Warrior River. One vehicle sustained hail damage indicating some of the hail may have been larger.
April 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$5,000	Trees were down in Northport and Tuscaloosa.
January 1997	Hail	Northport	$5,000	no account filed
October 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$3,000	A few trees were blown down near Northwood Lake. One home had its shutters blown off.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$3,000	Several trees were blown down.
May 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$3,000	Trees and power lines were blown down just east of Lake Tuscaloosa.
October 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$2,000	A few trees were blown down near Northwood Lake. One home had its shutters blown off along Highway 43.
February 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$2,000	Several trees were blown down on Main Avenue and 28th Avenue, in Northport.
December 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$2,000	A few trees were blown down near Northport.
May 1998	Hail	Northport	$2,000	Hail the size of quarters was reported in Northport.
February 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$2,000	no account filed
June 1998	Hail	Northport	$2,000	no account filed
August 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	$1,000	Trees and power lines were blown down in Northport and around Northwood Lake.
June 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	-	Several trees uprooted in the city of Northport.
January 2015	Flash Flood	Northport	-	Heavy rainfall caused about one dozen roads to become flooded and impassable within Tuscaloosa County. The flooded roads were in the city of Northport, along Highway 69 between the cities of Tuscaloosa and Moundville, and along Highway 82 between the cities of Tuscaloosa and Duncanville. Rainfall reports in these areas indicated widespread 2-4 inches with isolated amounts near 5 inches.
February 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Northport	-	Wind speeds estimated at 60 mph.
August 2009	Flash Flood	Northport	-	Six inches of water was flowing across 5th Street, near Main Avenue, in Northport.
August 2009	Flash Flood	Northport	-	Heavy rains caused water to flow over a bridge, on Hunter Creek Road, just south of McFarland Boulevard.
March 2007	Flash Flood	Northport	-	County Road 171 on the north side of Northport became flooded and was temporarily impassable.
March 2007	Hail	Northport	-	Hail up to the size of nickels was reported for several minutes in and around the city of Northport.
February 2006	Hail	Northport	-	Nickel size hail was observed along Highway 171 northwest of Northport.
April 2006	Hail	Northport	-	Reported along Highway 171 and Highway 43.
April 2006	Hail	Northport	-	Reported west of Tuscaloosa Municpal Airport.
April 2004	Hail	Northport	-	Dime to quarter size hail covered the ground in and around the Romulus community.
May 2003	Hail	Northport	-	Penny size hail was reported in the city of Northport.
May 2001	Hail	Northport	-	Dime size hail was observed in the Yellow Creek area.
April 1998	Hail	Northport	-	Dime size hail was reported in Echola, in the western part of the county.
April 1998	Hail	Northport	-	Dime size hail was reported in Northport.
April 1998	Hail	Northport	-	Dime size hail was reported at Lake Tuscaloosa.
April 1998	Hail	Northport	-	Dime size hail was reported near the Tuscaloosa airport.
April 1994	Hail	Northport	-	Golf ball-size hail was reported near Northport and there were several reports of funnel clouds along Highway 171.
March 2016	Hail	Northport	-	no account filed
March 2015	Hail	Northport	-	no account filed
March 2015	Hail	Northport	-	no account filed
February 2009	Hail	Northport	-	no account filed
March 2008	Hail	Northport	-	no account filed
March 2007	Funnel Cloud	Northport	-	no account filed
March 2007	Hail	Northport	-	no account filed
April 2006	Hail	Northport	-	no account filed
April 2006	Hail	Northport	-	no account filed
July 2004	Hail	Northport	-	no account filed
May 2003	Hail	Northport	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Tuscaloosa 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 record	The nomination case file for reference 74000438 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Tuscaloosa County	All 47 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.