Bethlehem, Georgia
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Bethlehem census division. It lies in ZIP code area 30620. The Survey maps it on the Winder South quadrangle. 715 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 866 feet above sea level.
On record in Bethlehem
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 2 records
Kilgore Mill Covered Bridge and Mill Sitelisted 1975- Manning Gin Farmlisted 1991
Population over time
3 figuresBethlehem grew from 209 to 715 between 1910 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1910 | 209 | |
| 2010 | 601 | |
| 2020 | 715 | +114 (+19%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 17 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1896 USGS Monroe quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1953 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Winder South quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1980 USGS Athens quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1988 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
149 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 149 fires within 5 miles of Bethlehem between 1992 and 2020, burning about 243 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 27 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 | 73 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 27 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 17 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 11 |
| Smoking | 7 |
| Natural | 6 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 7 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 3 September 1993 | Debris and open burning | 1.6 acres | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 23 September 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 22 September 2008 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 2 September 2011 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Georgia Forestry Commission | FY2012-BARROW-002 |
| 17 September 1999 | Smoking | 4.7 acres | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
| 17 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.3 acres | Georgia Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Bethlehem: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thompson Placer | Gold | Past Producer | Stream Placer |
Storms near this place
19 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bethlehem in 19 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 12 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 3 lightning. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2009 | Lightning | Bethlehem | $200,000 | The Gwinnett Daily Post of Lawrenceville reported that lightning struck a home in the 900 block of Nature Trail. The home was completely destroyed from the resulting fire. Three residents of the home were displaced because of the loss. No injuries or deaths were reported. |
| August 2005 | Lightning | Bethlehem | $150,000 | The Barrow County News reported that twp lightning strikes resulted in damage to private property. A home was struck by lightning on Courtyard Circle and caught fire. Just a few minutes later, a barn and a recreational vehicle were struck by lightning on Harrison Mill Road and burned. |
| July 2001 | Lightning | Bethlehem | $35,000 | The Gwinnett Daily Post newspaper reported that lightning struck and set on fire a custom cabinet shop on Carl-Bethlehem Road. The cabinet shop and its contents were completely destroyed. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | $15,000 | The Barrow County Emergency Manager had multiple reports of trees down between Winder and Bethlehem. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | $8,000 | The Barrow County Emergency Manager reported several trees blown down in the 100-200 block of Tanners Bridge Road. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | $7,000 | The Barrow County 911 Center reported that several trees and power lines were down across the county. The most concentrated damage was noted between Auburn, Carl, and Winder in the northwest part of the county. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | $5,000 | The Barrow County 911 Center reported that at least 25 trees were down across the county. |
| March 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | $3,000 | no account filed |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | $2,000 | Trees down near Bethel Bower Road and Tanners Bridge Road. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | $2,000 | Trees down along Mcelhannon Road, south of Bethlehem. |
| February 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | $2,000 | The Barrow county 911 center reported that some power lines down on Brisco Mill Road. |
| February 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | $2,000 | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | $1,000 | The Barrow County 911 Center reported that two power lines were down near Bethlehem. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | $1,000 | Barrow county 911 reported power lines blown down. |
| February 2005 | Hail | Bethlehem | - | The public reported quarter-sized hail. |
| April 2005 | Hail | Bethlehem | - | The public reported quarter-sized hail. |
| April 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethlehem | - | The public reported that several trees were blown down. |
| March 2003 | Hail | Bethlehem | - | The public reported penny to nickel size hail. |
| April 1997 | Hail | Bethlehem | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russell | 3.3 miles | 17 | |
| Winder | 4.2 miles | 17 | |
| Barrow Heights | 4.4 miles | 17 | |
| Whistleville | 5.6 miles | 18 | |
| Statham | 6.6 miles | 18 | |
| Cedar Hill | 6.8 miles | 15 | |
| Carl | 7.2 miles | 15 | |
| Mulberry | 7.8 miles | 15 |
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 Bethlehem | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3261160 | 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 331150. 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.







