BlockBefore

Dorchester, South Carolina

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Harleyville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29437. The Survey maps it on the Harleyville quadrangle. It stands 105 feet above sea level.

Dorchester within Dorchester County

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.

Photographs

8 of 20 photographs shown, 1938

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.

Middleton Place, Ashley River vic., Dorchester County, South Carolina
Middleton Place, Ashley River vic., Dorchester County, South Carolina
Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1938. Library of Congress
Indian Fields Methodist Campground, SC Route 73, .7 mile from SC Route 15, Saint George, Dorchester County, SC
Indian Fields Methodist Campground, SC Route 73, .7 mile from SC Route 15, Saint George, Dorchester County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Middleton Place Culvert, 4300 Ashley River Road, Knightsville, Dorchester County, SC
Middleton Place Culvert, 4300 Ashley River Road, Knightsville, Dorchester County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fort Dorchester, Dorchester Creek Junction, Summerville, Dorchester County, SC
Fort Dorchester, Dorchester Creek Junction, Summerville, Dorchester County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Middleton Place, Ashley River vic., Dorchester County, South Carolina
Middleton Place, Ashley River vic., Dorchester County, South Carolina
Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1938. Library of Congress
Middleton Place, Ashley River vic., Dorchester County, South Carolina
Middleton Place, Ashley River vic., Dorchester County, South Carolina
Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1938. Library of Congress
Middleton Place, Ashley River vic., Dorchester County, South Carolina
Middleton Place, Ashley River vic., Dorchester County, South Carolina
Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1938. Library of Congress
Middleton Place, Ashley River vic., Dorchester County, South Carolina
Middleton Place, Ashley River vic., Dorchester County, South Carolina
Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1938. Library of Congress

Every photograph of Dorchester County

Fires near this place

238 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 238 fires within 5 miles of Dorchester between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,493 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 38 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/undetermined95
Debris and open burning91
Arson/incendiarism38
Equipment and vehicle use7
Smoking3
Natural3
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
4 September 2019Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 2019Debris and open burning10 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
22 September 1997Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
2 September 2019Debris and open burning5.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
2 September 1999Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
2 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
14 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Dorchester County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Dorchester: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Dorchester Dirt PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Dorchester County

Storms near this place

31 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dorchester in 31 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 19 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 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
August 2024Flash FloodDorchester$20,000A Dorchester County emergency manager shared a picture of a washout along the paved 695 Block of Powder Horn Road.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindDorchester$1,500A Dorchester County emergency manager reported and few large branches and 1 tree down blocking the roadway in the 200 Block of Salem Road.
August 2021LightningDorchester$1,000Law enforcement reported a tree down on Harrison Road.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindDorchester$1,000One tree down on Highway 78.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindDorchester$1,000One tree down along Interstate 26 between mile markers 184 and 183.
September 2011Thunderstorm WindDorchester$500A public source reported several large tree branches down along Highway 78, 1 mile West Northwest of Dorchester.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindDorchester$500A tree was reported down and blocking Beibler Forest Road 3 miles northeast of Dorchester, South Carolina.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindDorchester$500Tree was blown down along Zion Road. The tree blocked one lane of traffic.
October 2008Flash FloodDorchester$250Law enforcement reported that there was significant flooding in Summerville, South Carolina and Dorchester, South Carolina. Up to 3 feet of water was reported on roads with a few cars stranded in the water.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindDorchester-A Dorchester County emergency manager reported a tree down on a power line in the 100 Block of Pendarvis Circle.
January 2024Thunderstorm WindDorchester-Dorchester County Emergency Management reported a tree down in the 1300 block of Zion Road.
August 2024Flash FloodDorchester-A Dorchester County emergency manager relayed an image of water moving over Salem Road where it intersects with Halfway Gut Creek.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindDorchester-Dorchester County Emergency Management reported a downed tree and power lines which fell in the roadway at the intersection of Wire Road and Zion Road. Two vehicles collided with the downed tree and one person was injured.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindDorchester-Dorchester County dispatch reported a tree down along Halfway Creek Lane.
March 2021HailDorchester-Penny sized hail off of Zion Road.
April 2019Thunderstorm WindDorchester-Law enforcement reported a tree down on Pendarvis Circle.
April 2019Thunderstorm WindDorchester-A tree was reported down on Interstate 26 westbound near mile marker 184.
October 2017Thunderstorm WindDorchester-The Dorchester County 911 Call Center reported a tree down on Highway 178 near the intersection with Highway 78.
October 2017Thunderstorm WindDorchester-The Dorchester County 911 Call Center reported a tree down on a house at the 200 Block of Washie Road.
October 2016FloodDorchester-A Dorchester County emergency manager reported Highway 78 impassible due to flooding from Four Hole Swamp.
October 2016FloodDorchester-A Dorchester County emergency manager reported Horseford Road closed due to flooding from Four Hole Swamp.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindDorchester-The Dorchester County 911 Call Center reported a tree down on East Main Street in Dorchester South Carolina.
March 2012HailDorchester-Dorchester COunty Law Enforcement reported nickel sized hail 5 miles southeast of Harleyville.
July 2008HailDorchester-A trained weather spotter reported penny size hail in Dorchester, South Carolina.
June 2008HailDorchester-Nickel size hail was reported by a trained weather spotter 2 miles east-southeast of Dorchester, South Carolina.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindDorchester-Trees and power lines were down.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindDorchester-Several trees were down.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindDorchester-Several trees and large limbs were knocked down.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindDorchester-Trees down along U.S. 78.
April 2006HailDorchester-no account filed
June 1996LightningDorchester-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Dorchester 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
Lincoln Green1.9 miles16
Inabinetts (historical)3.4 miles17
Pregnall3.9 miles16
Ridgeville5.2 miles17
Harleyville5.9 miles16
Russell Lake Landing6.3 miles16
Byrd6.8 miles18
Giant7.2 miles16

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.

Wikidata item Q114442686The 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 1247540. 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.