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Alcolu, South Carolina

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1920 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Alcolu census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29001. It stands on Big Branch. The Survey maps it on the Tearcoat Branch quadrangle. 402 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 125 feet above sea level.

Alcolu within Clarendon County

On record in Alcolu

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Alcolu fell from 429 to 402 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
2010429
2020402-27 (-6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 16 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.

Fires near this place

352 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 352 fires within 5 miles of Alcolu between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,296 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 71 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 burning160
Missing data/not specified/undetermined95
Arson/incendiarism71
Equipment and vehicle use9
Natural6
Smoking4
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Railroad operations and maintenance3

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
7 September 2002Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 2017Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
26 September 2019Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2003Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
21 September 1997Debris and open burning5.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
17 September 2008Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
16 September 2009Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Clarendon County

Storms near this place

23 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alcolu in 23 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 11 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 4 flash flood, 1 lightning. The reports record 4 injuries. 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
September 2004Tornado (F1)Alcolu4 hurtAn F1 tornado destroyed 2 mobile homes and damaged several others. Light to moderate damage occurred to the elementary school and its busses. Severe damage occurred to large open air outbuildings at a mill across the street from the school.
October 2015Flash FloodAlcolu$800,000SC Highway Patrol reports I-95 closed at mile marker 124 due to flooding.
October 2015Flash FloodAlcolu$500,000Clarendon County dispatch reported I-95 has been closed again both northbound and southbound between mile markers 98 and 135 due to flooding.
October 2015Flash FloodAlcolu$500,000Clarendon County dispatch reports that several roads that had flooded in the previous rain event and reopened had to be closed again this evening due to recent rain and runoff in the Manning and Alcolu areas.
October 2015Flash FloodAlcolu$100,000Plowdenmill Road near I-95 and Hwy 521 closed due to impassible water covering the roadway. Reported by the Emergency Operations Center.
November 2011Thunderstorm WindAlcolu$85,000Storm Survey found an intense microburst destroyed a garage/workshop and took down numerous trees. Shingles, facia, and soffett were also torn off the home.
September 1997LightningAlcolu$60,000Lightning struck a church in the early morning hours and did $60K in damage to the facility.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindAlcolu$14,000Highway Patrol reported a tree on a car along I-95 at mile marker 125. The car was parked on the side of the road and was unattended.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindAlcolu$6,000Sheriff reported trees down on Alderman Camp Road.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindAlcolu$4,000Public reported trees down on Old Georgetown Road blocking traffic.
April 2023Thunderstorm WindAlcolu-A tree fell on a line on Old Georgetown Rd near Clyburn Rd, north of Manning. Time estimated.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindAlcolu-SCDOT reported trees down in Alcolu.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindAlcolu-SC Highway Patrol reported a downed tree blocking portions of I-95 at mile marker 126.5. Downed tree confirmed via DOT highway camera. Time estimated by radar.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindAlcolu-Tree in roadway near the intersection of Robert Rees Durant Rd and US Hwy 301. Time estimated.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindAlcolu-Highway Patrol reported a tree fell on a car on I-95 at mile marker 125. The vehicle was unoccupied.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindAlcolu-Public reported numerous large branches down.
March 2000HailAlcolu-Sheriff reported 3/4 inch hail.
May 2000HailAlcolu-SKYWARN spotter reported 1 inch hail from Alcolu to 5 S of New Zion on hwy 527.
May 2000HailAlcolu-SKYWARN spotter reported 3/4 inch hail.
April 1999HailAlcolu-Post Office reporte dime size hail at I95 and hwy 49.
June 1998HailAlcolu-Sheriff reported 3/4 inch hail.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindAlcolu-Severe thunderstorms developed across central and northeast South Carolina causing considerable damage. A lightning-caused fire heavily damaged a home in Alcolu; also, a roof was blown off a mobile home near Alcolu and trees were blown down near Manning. A car in Florence was struck by a falling tree, injuring the passenger. A 12-year-old girl in Florence received a mild shock from a lightning strike.
June 1996HailAlcolu-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Clarendon 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.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Harvin1.3 miles16
Trinity Cross Roads1.6 miles16
Manning3.9 miles16
Country Club Estates5.4 miles16
Wilson Crossroads5.9 miles16
Durant6.3 miles16
Juneville6.7 miles16
Halleytown7.0 miles14

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 AlcoluAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2891867The 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 1230998. 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.