Alma, Georgia

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Alma census division. It lies in ZIP code area 31510. It stands on Bear Branch. The Survey maps it on the Alma quadrangle. 3,433 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 200 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Alma within Bacon County

On record in Alma

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 4 records

Alma Depotlisted 1983
Bacon County Courthouselisted 1980
Bacon County Schoollisted 2007
Rabinowitz Buildinglisted 1987

Population over time

2 figures

Alma fell from 3,466 to 3,433 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.

Year	People	Change
2010	3,466
2020	3,433	-33 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 8 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.

1953 USGS Waycross quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1958 USGS Waycross quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1971 USGS Alma quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1979 USGS Hazlehurst quadrangle1:100000
1988 USGS Waycross quadrangle1:250000

Fires near this place

425 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 425 fires within 5 miles of Alma between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,039 acres in total. 32 started naturally. 77 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	234
Arson/incendiarism	77
Equipment and vehicle use	38
Natural	32
Misuse of fire by a minor	24
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	10
Smoking	7
Recreation and ceremony	2
Railroad operations and maintenance	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
4 September 2010	Misuse of fire by a minor	1.8 acres	Georgia Forestry Commission	FY2011-BACON-006
3 September 2011	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	FY2012-BACON-009
28 September 2018	Debris and open burning	1.8 acres	Georgia Forestry Commission	FY2019BACON002
28 September 2009	Debris and open burning	3.3 acres	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
27 September 2018	Natural	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	FY2019BACON001
24 September 1997	Debris and open burning	1.6 acres	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
23 September 2010	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	FY2011-BACON-012
22 September 2003	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Bacon County

Storms near this place

60 of 83 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alma in 83 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 46 thunderstorm wind, 26 hail, 6 tornado, 2 flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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
October 1997	Tornado (F2)	Alma	1 hurt, $200,000	Ten homes destroyed, four with major damage, and 17 sustained minor damage. A four mile line of standing pine timber was completely destroyed.
November 2002	Tornado (F0)	Alma	$100,000	One mobile home destroyed and a portion of the roof of an adjacent wood frame structure removed. Several large trees down across roadway. Several tree tops snapped off and twisted. Debris wrapped around tree tops.
December 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$50,000	Several barns lost roofs.
December 2002	Tornado (F0)	Alma	$40,000	House damaged by 16 inch diameter tree. Numerous trees down. 2 mile long path about 100 yards wide.
March 2000	Tornado (F0)	Alma	$25,000	Destroyed one mobile home, two others were damaged.
July 1996	Lightning	Alma	$20,000	no account filed
February 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$10,000	Large trees blown down across power lines with some power poles snapped.
December 2002	Tornado (F0)	Alma	$10,000	Numerous trees snapped off and down along Hwy 23.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$3,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$2,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$2,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down. The roof of a mobile home was blown off.
August 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$2,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
August 2013	Flood	Alma	$2,000	U.S. Highway 1 at mile marker 6 near Alma was inundated by flood waters from recent heavy rainfall. The cost of damage was unknown but was estimated for the event to be included in StormData. It is likely grossly underestimated.
December 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$2,000	Large trees down across highway or damaged along Hwy 23 north of Alma
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$2,000	Large trees were blown down.
March 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$1,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$1,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
July 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$1,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$1,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
February 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$1,500	Large tress and power lines were blown down.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$1,000	Trees were blown down onto power lines. The cost of damage was estimated for the event to be included in StormData.
March 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$1,000	The county sheriff reported a large tree was blown down blocking Cricket River Road. The cost of tree removal was estimated.
May 2008	Hail	Alma	$1,000	The public reported slight damage to cars with small dings due to penny sized hail in the vicinity of Alma.
July 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	$500	Thunderstorm winds knocked down trees and limbs which were blocking the road.
February 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	A tree was blown down in Alma across Douglas Street. The time of damage was based on radar.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Numerous tree were blown down across the southern tier of the county.
August 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Severe trees were blown down across Radio Station Road near Mimosa Road. The time of damage was based on radar.
August 2023	Heavy Rain	Alma	-	A public rain gage measured 4.84 inches of storm total rainfall thus far. Several other reports of 4-5 inches were measured within the city limits of Alma, as well as from Alma to Nicholls to Douglas.
April 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in Alma. The time of damage was based on radar.
June 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Trees were blown down along Rockingham Road.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	A large tree was blown down on a home along 18th Street.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Trees and powerlines were blown down in NW Alma.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Two barns were blown down just southeast of Alma near Caraway Road. The time of damage was based on radar.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Tree were blown down in Alma. The time of damage was based on radar.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in Alma. The time of damage was based on radar.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down within Alma.
August 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	County dispatch officials reported a tree was blown down.
March 2013	Hail	Alma	-	WALB-TV relayed a public report via Facebook of Golf ball size hail in Alma.
February 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Trees were blown down along the Bennett Still Highway.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Trees were blown down along Oakhill Church Road.
May 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	A spotter reported large pecan tree limbs were blown down throughout the orchard from severe thunderstorm wind gusts. The time was based on Doppler radar.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Thunderstorm winds lifted a carport off of its foundation. Several trees were uprooted and fell onto power lines.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	The Health Department facility had roof damage from thunderstorm wind gusts which caused rain water to flood portions of the interior.
October 2008	Hail	Alma	-	Penny and dime size hail was reported at 405 West 11th Street.
October 2008	Hail	Alma	-	Golf ball to penny size hail was reported in Alma.
October 2008	Hail	Alma	-	Penny to dime size hail was reported at the corner of Dixon Street and West 12th Street. The time of the reported was approximated.
May 2008	Hail	Alma	-	A trained spotter reported penny size hail reported in the City of Alma, along with a tree down along Highway 32 east of Alma.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Numerous trees were blown down across the county.
March 2003	Tornado (F0)	Alma	-	Spotted by Emergency Management Director. Brief touchdown no significant damage.
March 2003	Hail	Alma	-	Reported by emergency manager as baseball sized.
May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Pecan trees down over Highway 23 and Highway 1 north of Alma.
May 2003	Hail	Alma	-	Hail covered the ground.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Large trees down and a mobile home was damaged.
July 2003	Funnel Cloud	Alma	-	Reported by general public to EMA Office.
August 2002	Flood	Alma	-	Roads flooded along highway 32.
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	Trees damaged.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Alma	-	no account filed
July 2008	Hail	Alma	-	no account filed
April 2006	Hail	Alma	-	no account filed
April 2006	Hail	Alma	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Bacon 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Rockingham	2.5 miles	8
Guysie	3.7 miles	8
New Lacy	4.8 miles	7
Lambright	6.5 miles	7
Sessoms	6.6 miles	8
Coffee	8.3 miles	7

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 Alma	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2478924	The 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 310492. 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.

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.