BlockBefore

Buffalo, South Carolina

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1941 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Union census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29321. The Survey maps it on the Union West quadrangle. 1,288 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 591 feet above sea level.

Buffalo within Union County

On record in Buffalo

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

Surveyed buildings and structures 5 records

Population over time

2 figures

Buffalo grew from 1,266 to 1,288 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
20101,266
20201,288+22 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 12 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

5 photographs,

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.

Buffalo Cotton Textile Mill, Mill Office, SC Route 215, Buffalo, Union County, SC
Buffalo Cotton Textile Mill, Mill Office, SC Route 215, Buffalo, Union County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Buffalo Cotton Textile Mill, Worker's House, S.C. Route 215, Buffalo, Union County, SC
Buffalo Cotton Textile Mill, Worker's House, S.C. Route 215, Buffalo, Union County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Buffalo Cotton Textile Mill, Mill Building, SC Route 215, Buffalo, Union County, SC
Buffalo Cotton Textile Mill, Mill Building, SC Route 215, Buffalo, Union County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Buffalo Cotton Textile Mill, Power Plant, S.C. Route 215, Buffalo, Union County, SC
Buffalo Cotton Textile Mill, Power Plant, S.C. Route 215, Buffalo, Union County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Buffalo Cotton Textile Mill, Worker's House, S.C. Route 215, Buffalo, Union County, SC
Buffalo Cotton Textile Mill, Worker's House, S.C. Route 215, Buffalo, Union County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

154 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 154 fires within 5 miles of Buffalo between 1992 and 2020, burning about 354 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 6 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/undetermined74
Debris and open burning42
Misuse of fire by a minor13
Equipment and vehicle use10
Arson/incendiarism6
Natural3
Other causes2
Smoking2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2

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 2007Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
23 September 1997Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 1997Misuse of fire by a minor3.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
19 September 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
16 September 1997Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
14 September 1997Debris and open burning3.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
9 August 2002Equipment and vehicle use16 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
9 August 2001Debris and open burning4.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Union County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Buffalo: 2 past producers. 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Bogan MineGoldPast Producer
West MineGoldPast Producer

Every working recorded in Union County

Storms near this place

26 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Buffalo in 26 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 19 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2020Thunderstorm WindBuffalo$50,000Public reported multiple trees and power lines blown down in Buffalo and in Monarch Mill, with some trees on houses in Monarch Mill.
June 1999LightningBuffalo$5,000no account filed
April 1997Thunderstorm WindBuffalo$2,000no account filed
September 2025Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-County comms reported a tree blown down at Toney Rd & Meansville Rd and another tree down on Ingle Ave at Duncan Bypass.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-County comms reported a couple of trees blown down in the Buffalo area.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-County comms reported numerous trees blown down across the county, particularly in the city of Union.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-County comms reported a few trees blown down in Union County, including at Least a couple of trees down in the city of Union and at least a couple more near Carlisle.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-County comms reported trees blown down in the city of Buffalo and vicinity.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-County comms reported numerous trees blown down across the county especially from near Jonesville and Buffalo across the city of Union.
July 2013Flash FloodBuffalo-Times Drive was flooded and closed as was a portion of the Rice Avenue Extension on the west side of Union.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-Multiple trees and power lines were blown down from Buffalo to Union.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-A roof was blown off an outbuilding with numerous trees blown down from Buffalo to Union. One tree fell on a house on Kelly Rd and another tree on a house on Stevens Rd in Buffalo.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-A tree was blown down in Buffalo. Multiple large limbs were also blown down on Mill St.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-Two trees were blown down about 5 miles northeast of Cross Keys.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-Trees and power lines blown down. Also large hail of unspecified size.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-A tree was blown down on Bogan Rd and another near the intersection of Mudbridge Rd and West Springs highway.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-A mobile home was blown off its blocks and moved about 5 feet.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-Trees blown down along highway 215 from Riley Rd to Linersville Rd.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-Two large oak trees and numerous tree limbs were blown down.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-Trees were blown down.
June 2001Flash FloodBuffalo-Overflowing creeks flooded roads in the western half of Union County, between Buffalo and Union.
April 2006HailBuffalo-no account filed
May 2006HailBuffalo-no account filed
May 2004HailBuffalo-no account filed
April 2001Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-no account filed
May 1995HailBuffalo-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Union 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
Tempie Hill0.3 miles12
Goat Alley0.5 miles12
Union3.2 miles12
Rogansville (historical)3.5 miles12
Bonham4.0 miles12
Sardis4.6 miles12
Monarch4.6 miles12
Bishop Town (historical)4.7 miles12

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 BuffaloAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2528435The 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 1231101. 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.