Calhoun County, South Carolina

31 topographic sheets and 6 fire insurance atlases across 1 place.

Research this county

From the record

14 National Register listings published here.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

South Carolina within the United States

Calhoun County within South Carolina

What the record shows

1 place in this county was surveyed for fire insurance: Saint Matthews, between 1894 and 1935.
6 fire insurance atlases survive for the county. Topographic coverage is national; fire insurance survey reached only incorporated places with something worth insuring.
239 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
14 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 12 buildings, 1 site and 1 district.
9 of the 14 listings were added during the 1970s.
The Geographic Names Information System records 18 populated places in this county; 18 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.

Photographs

1 photograph,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Joseph Banks House, 104 Dantzler Street, Saint Matthews, Calhoun County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Places on the National Register

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Property	Type	Listed	Reference
William Baker House	building	1978	78002494
Col. J. A. Banks House	building	1980	80003655
Calhoun County Courthouse	building	1981	81000561
Calhoun County Library	building	1975	75001690
Cherokee Path, Sterling Land Grant	site	1976	76001696
Culclasure-Geiger Farmstead	district	2023	100008999
Col. Olin M. Dantzler House	building	1973	73001680
Haigler House	building	2001	01001099
David Houser House	building	1980	80003656
Midway Plantation	building	1976	76001694
Oakland Plantation	building	1975	75001689
Puritan Farm	building	1974	74001829
Ulmer-Summers House	building	1973	73001679
Zante Plantation	building	1976	76001695

The county from the air

41 shown

Flown by the U.S. Geological Survey between 1937 and 1989, the Aerial Photo Single Frames collection is the definitive mid-century view of the land: fields, roads and rivers as the camera saw them. The Survey holds 1,661 frames inside the rectangle that bounds this county; the 41 frames below were taken over the county itself, chosen across the decades of flights (at most four a year from that rectangle), so one flight cannot crowd out the rest. The full set is free to browse and download at EarthExplorer under the dataset Aerial Photo Single Frames.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1957-04-06, scale 1:24000 — 1957-04-06, scale 1:24000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1961-10-01, scale 1:60000 — 1961-10-01, scale 1:60000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1964-04-01, scale 1:50000 — 1964-04-01, scale 1:50000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1968-06-15, scale 1:118863 — 1968-06-15, scale 1:118863. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1971-02-06, scale 1:24000 — 1971-02-06, scale 1:24000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1972-08-19, scale 1:129000 — 1972-08-19, scale 1:129000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1972-09-22, scale 1:131000 — 1972-09-22, scale 1:131000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1974-04-01, scale 1:20500 — 1974-04-01, scale 1:20500. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1974-05-13, scale 1:76000 — 1974-05-13, scale 1:76000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1976-07-21, scale 1:66000 — 1976-07-21, scale 1:66000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1976-07-21, scale 1:65000 — 1976-07-21, scale 1:65000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1978-03-01, scale 1:80000 — 1978-03-01, scale 1:80000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1981-01-01, scale 1:80000 — 1981-01-01, scale 1:80000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph, 1996-04-27, scale 1:12000 — 1996-04-27, scale 1:12000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.

Weather records

14 stations, 2 gages

The thermometers that kept this county's weather, and the gages that measured the flow of its streams, as the federal records hold them. The extremes below are measured values from those records, not estimates.

ST MATTHEWS 1898 to 1951, hottest 444.4 C, coldest -17.8 C
SANDY RUN 3ENE 2002 to 2012, hottest 39.4 C, coldest -10.6 C
ST. MATTHEWS 3.2 ENE 2008 to 2026
GASTON 5.3 E 2009 to 2022
CAMERON 2.0 SE 2011 to 2013
CAMERON 4.2 SE 2012 to 2014
ST. MATTHEWS 3.6 NW 2013 to 2015
SWANSEA 5.7 ENE 2018 to 2020
NORTH 8.6 ENE 2019 to 2026
SWANSEA 3.5 NE 2019 to 2026, hottest 37.2 C, coldest -11.1 C
ST. MATTHEWS 9.0 WNW 2020 to 2022
ST MATTHEWS 7.1 E 2021 to 2022
ELLOREE 4.5 W 2022 to 2026
ST MATTHEWS 1 SE 2023 to 2026, hottest 38.3 C, coldest -12.2 C

CONGAREE RIVER AT SANDY RUN, SC 2001 to 2002
CONGAREE RIVER AT U.S. HWY 601 NR. FORT MOTTE, SC 2023 to 2026

The 1950 census, district by district

20 districts

Who lived here in 1950, one enumeration district at a time, as the Census Bureau described each district. Each row opens its official National Archives result, with Population Schedules and ED Maps available there.

9-1Amelia township: St. Matthews town: St. Matthews town - That part Bounded by Town limits; Town limits; Town limits; Southern Railway
9-2St. Matthews town - That part Bounded by Town limits; Southern Railway; West Bridge; Town limits
9-3St. Matthews town - That part Bounded by W. Bridge; Southern Railway; Town limits; Town limits
9-4Amelia township - That part south and east of Southern Railway, outside St. Matthews town
9-5Amelia township - That part east of Bates Mill Creek and State Hwy. 117, and northwest of Southern Railway, outside St. Matthews town
9-6Amelia township - That part west of Bates Mill Creek and State Hwy. 117, outside St. Matthews town
9-7Caw Caw township: Caw Caw township - That part east of State Hwy. 210 and north of State Hwy. 6
9-8Caw Caw township - That part west of State Hwy. 210 and north of State Hwy. 172
9-9Caw Caw township - That part south of State Hwy. 172 and west of State Hwy. 210
9-10Caw Caw township - That part south of State Hwy. 6 and east of State Hwy. 210
9-11Lyons township: Cameron town
9-12Lyons township - That part northwest of Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and northeast of State Hwy. 6
9-13Lyons township - That part northeast of State Hwy. 31, southwest of State Hwy. 6, and northwest of Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, outside Cameron town
9-14Lyons township - That part southwest of State Hwy. 31 and northwest of Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, outside Cameron town
9-15Lyons township - That part southeast and southwest of Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, north of State Hwy. 604, southwest of State Hwy. 31 and northwest of State Hwy. 315, outside Cameron town
9-16Lyons township - That part southeast and northeast of Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
9-17Lyons township - That part southeast of State Hwy. 315, northeast of State Hwy. 31 and southeast of State Hwy. 604
9-18Pine Grove township: Pine Grove township - That part northeast of State Hwy. 267, east of road from State Hwy. 267 to State Hwy. 47 via St. Mark Church through Warlsy Creek, and northeast of State Hwy. 47
9-19Pine Grove township - That part southwest of State Hwy. 267, west of road from State Hwy. 267 to State Hwy. 47 via St. Mark Church through Warlsy Creek, and southwest of State Hwy. 47
9-20Sandy Run township

Wildfire, 1992 to 2020

1,005 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 1,005 of them, burning about 3,746 acres. 34 started naturally and 45 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	474
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	276
Equipment and vehicle use	108
Arson/incendiarism	45
Natural	34
Smoking	32
Misuse of fire by a minor	23
Power generation/transmission/distribution	8
Recreation and ceremony	4
Railroad operations and maintenance	1

The five largest, by the area the report gives. One of them was set deliberately.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
5 March 1996	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	290 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
5 March 2005	Natural	82 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
14 May 2014	Debris and open burning	75 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
25 May 2000	Smoking	65 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
28 February 2002	Equipment and vehicle use	65 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
31 January 1998	Debris and open burning	65 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
16 February 1999	Arson/incendiarism	50 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
3 March 1996	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	45 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1957 to 2025

60 of 327 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 327 reports for this county, causing 1 death, 9 injuries and about $8,155,310 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event	Reports
Thunderstorm Wind	204
Hail	83
Tornado	28
Flash Flood	8
Flood	2
Lightning	1
Heavy Rain	1

The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
October 1990	Tornado (F2)	not stated	1 killed, 4 hurt, $250,000	no account filed
April 2015	Tornado (EF1)	Hammond Xrds	2 hurt, $200,000	NWS storm survey found an EF1 tornado destroyed a mobile home on Otts Sisters Road injuring two people, damaged another, and also did minor damage to industrial facility. Numerous trees were also down along the path of the tornado.
March 1974	Tornado (F1)	not stated	1 hurt, $250,000	no account filed
December 2004	Tornado (F2)	St Matthews	1 hurt	Damage survey found an F2 tornado tore most of the concrete roof off a warehouse and damaged several vehicles and other outbuildings.
July 2003	Lightning	St Matthews	1 hurt	Lightning struck a State Trooper at I-26 and exit 139 injuring him.
October 2015	Flash Flood	St Matthews	$5,000,000	Several roads closed due to flooding including portions of HWY 6 between St.Matthews and Elloree.
October 2015	Flash Flood	Hammond Xrds	$500,000	SC Highway Patrol reports roadway flooding on I-26 eastbound at mile marker 124.
November 2008	Tornado (EF1)	Lone Star	$500,000	Storm survey found an EF1 touched down just southwest of Lone Star and continued northeast across Lake Marion into rural Sumter county. The most significant damage occurred near Lone Star along McCords Ferry road just south of Tinah road. At that location several homes lost portions of their roofs and numerous trees and powerlines were down. The tornado moved northeast across Broomstraw road where several outbuildings lost roofs or were destroyed.
November 1995	Tornado (F2)	Elloree	$400,000	Tornado severely damaged horse training center, track ,and home.
April 2011	Tornado (EF1)	Ft Motte	$250,000	NWS Storm Survey confirmed a HAM radio report of a tornado touchdown southwest of Ft. Motte. An EF1 tornado with winds of near 100mph took down numerous trees and powerlines, damaged a farm, and rolled over a large section of a field irrigation system. Nickel size hail was also reported.
April 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	St Matthews	$250,000	no account filed
November 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Cameron	$80,000	Storm survey found significant damage to Browns Chapel Church. The steeple was blown off, several windows were blown out from the wind getting in on the southwest side, and several trees were down. Shingles, facia, and soffett were also torn off.
April 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	St Matthews	$60,000	HAM radio and storm survey found trees down, stop signs bent over, uprooted trees, powerlines down, and a home significantly damaged from a tree falling on it.
January 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	St Matthews	$50,000	Trees and power lines down in the St. Matthews area.
February 1971	Tornado (F1)	not stated	$25,000	no account filed
April 1958	Tornado (F2)	not stated	$25,000	no account filed
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Cameron	$24,000	EM's reported many trees down along with powerlines between Cameron and Elloree. Structural damage also occurred to several out buildings.
April 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Hammond Xrds	$16,000	Strong straight line winds produced some damage to a home just off of Bull Swamp Road. The strong winds damaged the roof of the home and also blew out a wall on the northeast side of the house. There were also some medium size limbs down.
June 2012	Tornado (EF0)	Cameron	$16,000	SCEG reported several trees and powerlines down from a weak tornado near Cameron.
April 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	St Matthews	$15,000	WIS TV showed video of trees down on home in St. Matthews area.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Lone Star	$14,000	EM reported multiple trees and utility poles down in Lonestar.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Cameron	$14,000	EM reported multiple trees and utility poles and lines down in Cameron.
February 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Lone Star	$12,000	Dispatch reported trees down east of St. Matthews near Lake Marion along Hwy 267.
October 2016	Flash Flood	Lone Star	$10,000	South Carolina Hwy. Patrol reported the roadway washed out on Good Hope Road near Hwy. 267 McCords Ferry Road. They also reported a Stump Hole Road flooded.
April 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Hammond Xrds	$10,000	Sheriff reported powerlines down with outages in the Sandy Run area.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	St Matthews	$10,000	An intense microburst took down many very large trees, one partially fell on a home. Two boats were also moved from a larger pond to a smaller one. The event occurred at 439 Savany Hunt Creek road.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Hammond Xrds	$8,000	Sheriff reported trees down in the Sandy Run area including Valley Ridge Road.
January 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	St Matthews	$8,000	EMD reported trees down on powerlines in the St. Matthews area.
March 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Hammond Xrds	$8,000	Highway Patrol reported trees down along Gardner Farm Road.
May 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Cameron	$8,000	Highway Patrol reported trees down near the intersection of Hwy 176 and St. John Road.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Lone Star	$8,000	Tri County Electric COOP reported trees and powerlines down near Lone Star.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Motte	$8,000	TRI-COUNTY Electric reported outages due to down power lines.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Hammond Xrds	$8,000	COOP reported trees and powerlines down.
July 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	St Matthews	$8,000	EM reported powerlines and trees down in St. Matthews and areas south of town toward I-26.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Motte	$6,000	Dispatch reported multiple trees down around Ft. Motte.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Cameron	$6,000	Dispatch reported trees down on Cameron Road at U.S. 176.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Cameron	$6,000	Highway Patrol reported trees down on Winding Brook Drive.
October 2016	Flash Flood	Hammond Xrds	$5,000	South Carolina Hwy. Patrol reported a portion of Old State Road was washed out.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Hammond Xrds	$4,000	Electric COOP reported trees and limbs down on powerlines at Valley Ridge Road and Hwy 176.
May 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Creston	$4,000	Sheriff reported trees down near Elloree.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Riley	$4,000	Highway Patrol reported trees down ant Murph Mill road and Seetwater Lane.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	St Matthews	$4,000	Sheriff reported trees and powerlines down near Hwy 176 and Caw Caw road.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Creston	$4,000	Sheriff reported trees down on Jericho Road.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	St Matthews	$4,000	Highway Patrol reported trees down near SC 6 and US 176.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Riley	$4,000	Highway Patrol reported trees in the roadway near Burke road and Kinley road.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Motte	$4,000	DOT reported trees down in the Ft. Motte area.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Lone Star	$3,000	Highway Patrol reports trees down at 3 Bridges Road and McCords Ferry Road.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Hammond Xrds	$3,000	Dispatch reported trees down on Old State Road near Sandy Run.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Riley	$3,000	A county official reported trees down on Bull Swamp road.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Hammond Xrds	$3,000	Dispatch reported trees down on Bull Swamp road.
November 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Hammond Xrds	$3,000	DOT reported trees down near mile marker 133 on I-26.
July 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Hammond Xrds	$3,000	Sheriff reported trees down on Hwy 172 and Kaigler Ave.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Creston	$3,000	County reported several trees down near hwy 6 in southern Calhoun county north of Ellorree.
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Hammond Xrds	$3,000	DOT reported a couple of trees down on hwy 176 east of Sandy Run.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Creston	$2,000	Highway Patrol reported trees down on Hwy 6 near Hwy 33.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Lone Star	$2,000	Public reports a couple of trees down on Hwy 267 just north of Lonestar.
May 2013	Flood	Hammond Xrds	$2,000	The Congaree River at Carolina Eastman was 5.7 feet over flood stage. Minor flooding along the river at the plant occurred.
August 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Lone Star	$2,000	Park Service reported trees down in the backyard of the Ranger Home Residence.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Lone Star	$2,000	Public reported a couple of trees down on McCords Ferry Road.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Lone Star	$2,000	Highway Patrol reported a couple of trees down on Old River Road blocking the highway near the west end of Santee State Park.

Mines and quarries

8 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 8 workings inside this county. 3 still produce and 5 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity	Workings
Clay	5
Sand and Gravel, Construction	2
Copper	1

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
(Facility) Gaston Copper Smelter	Copper	Plant
Cleckley Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown	Sedimentary
Cleckley Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Kenyon Mine West	Clay	Unknown	Sedimentary
Mccurry Pit	Clay	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Roof Mine	Clay	Producer	Sedimentary
Roof Pit	Clay	Producer
Unnamed Fullers Earth Pit	Clay	Unknown	Sedimentary

Every populated place in the county

Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on. The 1 place that was also surveyed for fire insurance comes first, with the number of atlases and photographs held for them.

Saint Matthews

St. Matthews census division · 29135 · Saint Matthews quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990

Fire insurance: 6 atlases
Cameron

Cameron census division · 29030 · On Bay Branch · Cameron quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Creston

Cameron census division · 29030 · Cameron quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Enos

29053 · Gaston quadrangle

12 sheets, 1944 to 1983
Fort Motte

Fort Motte-Lone Star census division · 29135 · On True Blue Creek · Fort Motte quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Hammond Crossroads

Sandy Run-Staley Crossroads census division · 29135 · Saint Matthews quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Lone Star

Fort Motte-Lone Star census division · 29030 · Lone Star quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Midway

Cameron census division · 29047 · Cameron quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Oak Grove

Sandy Run-Staley Crossroads census division · 29160 · Saylors Lake quadrangle

16 sheets, 1948 to 1990
Riley

St. Matthews census division · 29135 · Orangeburg North quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Sandy Run

Sandy Run-Staley Crossroads census division · 29160 · Saylors Lake quadrangle

16 sheets, 1948 to 1990
Singleton

St. Matthews census division · 29135 · Fort Motte quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Staley Crossroads

Sandy Run-Staley Crossroads census division · 29112 · Staley Crossroads quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Tina

Fort Motte-Lone Star census division · 29030 · Elloree quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Totness

St. Matthews census division · 29135 · On Sikes Creek · Saint Matthews quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Weeks Landing

Fort Motte-Lone Star census division · 29030 · On Warley Creek · Lone Star quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Wertz Crossroads

St. Matthews census division · 29135 · Saint Matthews quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990
Wiles Crossroads

Fort Motte-Lone Star census division · 29135 · Fort Motte quadrangle

13 sheets, 1946 to 1990

Recorded here

Saint Matthews, South Carolina

13 topographic sheets and 6 fire insurance atlases, 1894 to 1935

Everything this county holds

The complete index, with nothing left out. Each of these is a separate record with its own page: a federal survey report, or the case file that argued a property on to the National Register. Both are public domain and reproduced word for word.

Surveyed structures

1 structure

Joseph Banks House

Provenance

Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
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.