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Abbeville, South Carolina

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1979. It stands in the Abbeville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29620. It stands on Adams Branch. The Survey maps it on the Abbeville West quadrangle. 4,874 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 591 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Abbeville within Abbeville County

On record in Abbeville

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 12 records

Surveyed buildings and structures 6 records

Population over time

2 figures

Abbeville fell from 5,237 to 4,874 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.

YearPeople Change
20105,237
20204,874-363 (-7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 15 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.

Photographs

8 of 25 photographs shown,

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.

Long-Hutchison Farm, House, County Road 123, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Long-Hutchison Farm, House, County Road 123, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Long-Hutchison Farm, Tenant Barn, County Road 123, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Long-Hutchison Farm, Tenant Barn, County Road 123, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Harper-Featherstone Farm, 0.7 mile west of County Road 81, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Harper-Featherstone Farm, 0.7 mile west of County Road 81, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Harper-Featherstone Farm, Hay Rack, .7 mile west of County Road 81, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Harper-Featherstone Farm, Hay Rack, .7 mile west of County Road 81, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Harper-Featherstone Farm, Hog Pen (Ruins), .7 mile west of County Road 81, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Harper-Featherstone Farm, Hog Pen (Ruins), .7 mile west of County Road 81, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Harper-Featherstone Farm, Chicken Roost, .7 mile west of County Road 81, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Harper-Featherstone Farm, Chicken Roost, .7 mile west of County Road 81, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Burt-Stark Mansion, 400 North Main Street, Abbeville, Abbeville County, SC
Burt-Stark Mansion, 400 North Main Street, Abbeville, Abbeville County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Harper-Featherstone Farm, Chicken Coop, .7 mile west of County Road 81, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Harper-Featherstone Farm, Chicken Coop, .7 mile west of County Road 81, Lowndesville, Abbeville County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Every photograph of Abbeville County

Fires near this place

213 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 213 fires within 5 miles of Abbeville between 1992 and 2020, burning about 296 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 11 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined86
Debris and open burning53
Equipment and vehicle use22
Misuse of fire by a minor17
Arson/incendiarism11
Railroad operations and maintenance10
Smoking7
Natural3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Fireworks1
Recreation and ceremony1

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 2005Debris and open burning4.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 2007Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 2016Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commission1974 CEDAR SPRINGS SOUTH
23 September 2014Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFrancis Marion & Sumter National ForestsEBENEEZER
2 September 2011Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
17 September 1999Arson/incendiarism10 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
13 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
12 September 2002Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Abbeville County

Storms near this place

60 of 64 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Abbeville in 64 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 35 thunderstorm wind, 17 hail, 5 lightning, 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
July 1999LightningAbbeville$100,000no account filed
March 2019Tornado (EF0)Abbeville$50,000NWS storm survey found the path of a weak tornado on the north side of the city of Abbeville. The tornado touched down near the intersection of Beltline Rd and Highway 20. The tornado moved due east through a forested area before impacting a residential neighborhood near the intersection of Mt Olive Church Rd and Old Douglas Mill Rd. In addition to numerous trees and power lines being blown down along the path, a large oak tree fell through a home, a metal carport was ripped from another home, and column supports torn from another home in this area.
September 2004Flash FloodAbbeville$26,000no account filed
April 2005Thunderstorm WindAbbeville$10,000Numerous trees and power lines blown down in and around the city. At least one tree fell on a house.
April 2005LightningAbbeville$10,000Lightning struck the steeple of Abbeville Presbyterian Church, igniting a fire.
November 2002Thunderstorm WindAbbeville$10,000Numerous trees were blown down. Power and telephone poles were snapped.
September 2004Flash FloodAbbeville$6,000no account filed
February 1997Thunderstorm WindAbbeville$5,000no account filed
June 1995Thunderstorm WindAbbeville$5,000no account filed
July 2020Thunderstorm WindAbbeville$4,000Public reported multiple trees down and minor damage to a few mobile homes on Flatwood Rd.
May 2002Thunderstorm WindAbbeville$3,000Numerous trees and powerlines were blown down.
October 2015FloodAbbeville$1,000After early morning flash flooding, rain rates moderated across the lower Piedmont, but flooding gradually expanded, with high water conditions remaining in place throughout much of the 4th. The main stream affected during this time was Dry Creek and/or Long Cane Creek, with Miller Mill Rd closed due to high water.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Public reported (via Social Media) multiple trees blown down in the Abbeville area.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-County comms relayed multiple reports of trees blown down just east of the city of Abbeville.
May 2021HailAbbeville-Spotter reported golf ball size hail in the Abbeville area.
October 2019Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Emergency manager reported several trees blown down across the county.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-County comms reported multiple trees blown down in the Abbeville area.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-A couple trees were blown down around Abbeville, including on Trail Drive and the Highway 28 bypass on the west side of town.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-A tree was blown down on Rock Hill Road, about 5 miles northwest of Abbeville.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Trees and power lines were blown down throughout the county.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Several trees were blown down near Abbeville.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Trees and power lines were blown down on highway 28 near highway 20.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Trees were blown down on Stephenson Rd with additional trees down on Carolina Circle in the city.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Trees were blown down along highway 72 a little to the southwest of Abbeville.
December 2009Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Several trees were blown down in and around the city of Abbeville.
March 2008Tornado (EF0)Abbeville-NWS survey found a small damage area consisent with EF0 tornado damage in northeast Abbeville County. Damage was mainly confined to downed trees and power lines.
May 2007HailAbbeville-Brief period of hail reported on Horton Dr.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Trees blown down on Sweet Briar Rd, McIlwain Rd and another tree down on highway 185 7 miles NE of town.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-A tree was blown down at Shrine Club Rd and highway 28 and a power pole was downed on Hagler St Extension in the city.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Fifteen to eighteen roads were blocked by fallen trees in and around the city of Abbeville. There were also quite a few power outages due to trees and limbs falling on lines in the city. Trees were also downed up to 5 miles east of town where the skirting was blown off of a mobile home.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Large limbs on power lines on highway 28 bypass. Also, a tree fell on and damaged a home on Greenville St and trees took down 3 power lines on Harrisburg Street.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Some trees were blown down.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Some trees were blown down.
April 2003Tornado (F1)Abbeville-A tornado touched down briefly in the Parsons Mountain area of the Sumter National Forest, blowing down several hundred trees along its 1/4 mile track.
May 2002Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-A few large trees were blown down.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-911 center reported trees fell on some vehicles in rural part of Abbeville.
September 2000Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Several trees were blown down near the Greenwood county border.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-Numerous trees and power lines were downed in a large area in and around Abbeville.
April 2009HailAbbeville-no account filed
March 2008HailAbbeville-no account filed
December 2007HailAbbeville-no account filed
June 2007HailAbbeville-no account filed
April 2006HailAbbeville-no account filed
April 2006HailAbbeville-no account filed
May 2006HailAbbeville-no account filed
May 2006HailAbbeville-no account filed
July 2006HailAbbeville-no account filed
April 2005LightningAbbeville-no account filed
May 2005HailAbbeville-no account filed
December 2005HailAbbeville-no account filed
April 2003Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-no account filed
May 2003HailAbbeville-no account filed
July 2000Flash FloodAbbeville-no account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-no account filed
June 1999Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-no account filed
April 1999HailAbbeville-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-no account filed
August 1997Thunderstorm WindAbbeville-no account filed
June 1997LightningAbbeville-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Abbeville County

Newspapers printed here

25,790 digitised pages

6 papers published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 4,076 issues, 25,790 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.

NewspaperPublished
The Banner1844 to 1847
The Abbeville Banner1847 to 1869
The Abbeville Press and Banner1869 to 1924
Abbeville Press1860 to 1869
The Abbeville Messenger1884 to 1887
The Abbeville Bulletin1865

What the paper printed

32,608 words

Front pages of the local paper, read from the Library of Congress scans: 25 issues spread across its run from 1846 to 1923, 32,608 words in total. Each is reproduced on its own page, exactly as the recogniser returned it.

These pages read less well than anything else here, and the number is worth stating: about three words in four come through cleanly, against nine in ten for the building records. An 1896 broadsheet sets eight-point type in seven columns on microfilm, which is the hardest thing in this archive to read by machine. We tested our own recognisers against the Library's and they were not better, so the Library's text is what appears, with the wholly unreadable columns removed. Read it as a guide to what the paper covered, and follow the link to the scan before quoting anything.

IssuePaper Length
1869-10-08The Abbeville Press and Banner1,487 words
1869-11-12The Abbeville Press and Banner1,307 words
1869-11-26The Abbeville Press and Banner1,113 words
1869-12-17The Abbeville Press and Banner1,643 words
1923-05-30The Abbeville Press and Banner2,650 words
1846-02-18The Banner1,850 words
1846-05-13The Banner1,118 words
1846-07-01The Banner1,212 words
1846-09-02The Banner472 words
1846-10-21The Banner707 words
1847-03-03The Abbeville Banner1,021 words
1869-09-29The Abbeville Banner1,059 words
1860-11-09Abbeville Press548 words
1860-11-23Abbeville Press1,299 words
1860-11-30Abbeville Press452 words
1860-12-14Abbeville Press1,318 words
1869-09-24Abbeville Press1,406 words
1884-10-01The Abbeville Messenger1,641 words
1884-10-22The Abbeville Messenger1,952 words
1884-11-12The Abbeville Messenger933 words
1884-11-26The Abbeville Messenger1,280 words
1884-12-17The Abbeville Messenger1,571 words
1887-02-08The Abbeville Messenger2,347 words
1865-08-10The Abbeville Bulletin1,199 words
1865-08-31The Abbeville Bulletin1,023 words

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Long Cane (historical)3.2 miles15
Sharon3.5 miles15
Darraugh4.0 miles15
Bethel4.2 miles13
Cold Spring4.3 miles15
Millers Mill4.7 miles15
Warrenton5.3 miles15
Millers Grove (historical)5.5 miles15

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 AbbevilleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1989375The 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 1244839. 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.