BlockBefore

Berea, South Carolina

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1935 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Greenville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29617. It stands on Little Creek. The Survey maps it on the Paris Mountain quadrangle. 15,578 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,040 feet above sea level.

Berea within Greenville County

Population over time

2 figures

Berea grew from 14,295 to 15,578 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
201014,295
202015,578+1,283 (+9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 13 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

130 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 130 fires within 5 miles of Berea between 1992 and 2020, burning about 517 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 12 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 burning47
Missing data/not specified/undetermined40
Arson/incendiarism12
Misuse of fire by a minor9
Equipment and vehicle use7
Recreation and ceremony5
Railroad operations and maintenance5
Smoking3
Other causes1
Natural1

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
25 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined7.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 1999Debris and open burning4.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
19 September 1998Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
14 September 2009Railroad operations and maintenance2.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
12 September 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
12 September 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
10 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
6 August 1999Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Greenville County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Berea: 3 producers, 2 unknowns, 1 occurrence, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Mica, Sand, Iron. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Edgcomb Steel--Greenville, S.C.Iron, AluminumProducer
Saluda Lake MineSandUnknownSedimentary
C H Ellis ProspectMicaProspect
G F Fuller DepositMicaOccurrence
Greenville MineSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Thomas Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknownSedimentary
W.F. Thomas Sand CompanySand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Greenville County

Storms near this place

27 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Berea in 27 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 13 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 5 hail, 2 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
June 2018Thunderstorm WindBerea$5,000County comms and FD reported a few trees down in Berea: on Alice Farr Dr, Hunts Bridge Rd, Sulphur Springs Rd, and on Eunice Dr, where a tree fell on an apartment building.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindBerea$3,000Trees and powerlines were blown down from Berea to Paris Mountain to the Lake Robinson area.
October 2021Flash FloodBerea$1,000A stream gauge on the Reedy River in west Greenville indicated flash flooding developed along a portion of the river after 2 to 4 inches fell in just a few hours. This indicated significant flooding of low-lying areas along portions of the Swamp Rabbit Trail and Hudson St. Cleveland Park and Lakehurst St also flooded due to backwater effects along Richland Creek. Backwater effects along Long Branch Creek flooded low-lying areas near Westside Park and Lily St. Additionally, the media reported inundation of Pine Grove Ln in Berea due to flooding along a tributary of the Reedy.
October 2015FloodBerea$1,000After 5 to 7 inches of rain fell across central Greenville County in more than a 24 hour period, flooding developed along the Reedy River during the morning, flooding part of Cleveland Park. A tributary of the Reedy may have flooded the intersection of Sulphur Springs Rd and Watkins Rd.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindBerea-Public and utility company reported trees blown down on power lines in the Berea area. Public also reported a tree blown down on Bennett St near E Park Ave.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBerea-Utility company reported trees blown down on power lines and causing outages at W Parker Rd and W Marion St and on Zet Ct.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindBerea-Media reported a tree blown down on power lines on Cedar Lane Rd. Public reported another tree down on Old Buncombe Rd.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindBerea-DOT reported a tree blown down on Ridge Rd in Berea and another tree at School Rd and N Franklin Rd in north Greenville.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindBerea-Highway Patrol reported a tree blown down in the Berea area and on Duvall Rd in South Greenville. DOT reported a tree blown down on White Horse Rd and on the Swamp Rabbit Trail in West Greenville.
June 2014HailBerea-HAM radio operator reported quarter size hail near Berea High School.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindBerea-A scattering of trees were blown down across central Greenville County including along North Parker Rd, Farmington Rd, as well as on Sweetbriar Rd. Also, a tree fell on a house in the Berea area.
July 2013Flash FloodBerea-Several roads were flooded in the Berea area.
March 2012HailBerea-Quarter to golf ball size hail fell across much of the northwest side of Greenville.
January 2010Flash FloodBerea-Mainly urban flooding, along with some stream flooding, developed across central Greenville County. The Reedy River exceeded its established flood stage in downtown Greenville by 2 feet. Closed roads included Boiling Springs Rd at Sugar Creek Rd, Garlington Rd at I-385 and Poplar St.
January 2010FloodBerea-Although heavy rain ended across the area around midnight, runoff from the earlier rainfall caused flooding to persist across portions of Greenville County through the rest of the night. Flooding along the Reedy River persisted into the afternoon hours.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindBerea-Two trees were blown down on Haynesworth Rd, about 4 miles northwest of downtown Greenville.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBerea-Numerous trees were blown down in and around Greenville. Some roads affected include Hunts Bridge Rd at Tucson Rd, Rogers Ave, Woodside Ave, and Sulphur Springs Rd.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindBerea-Trees blown down.
June 2004Heavy RainBerea-Poor drainage caused flooding to develop near the intersection of highway 253 and Cedar Lane during a heavy thunderstorm.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindBerea-Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. The most concentrated area of damage was in the middle of Greenville, particularly in areas from Church St to Mills Ave to Augusta Rd.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindBerea-Some trees and power lines were blown down.
August 2003Flash FloodBerea-Slow-moving thunderstorms produced very heavy rainfall that resulted in rapid flooding from Berea, to Greenville, to Taylors. Many roads flooded and required closing. The Reedy River crested at 9.5 feet in downtown Greenville, and remained above flood stage for much of the night.
May 2011HailBerea-no account filed
June 2007HailBerea-no account filed
September 2004Flash FloodBerea-no account filed
August 2000Flash FloodBerea-no account filed
June 1997HailBerea-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Greenville 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
Indian Hills0.4 miles13
Berea Heights0.4 miles13
Dellhaven0.7 miles13
Oak Hills0.8 miles13
Sunny Acres0.9 miles14
Enchanted Forest1.0 miles14
Cedar Lane Gardens1.0 miles13
Berea Forest1.0 miles13

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 BereaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2223272The 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 1246746. 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.