Folly Beach, South Carolina
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the James Island census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29439. It lies near Folly Island. The Survey maps it on the James Island quadrangle. 2,078 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 16 feet above sea level.
On record in Folly Beach
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
Secessionville Historic Districtlisted 1979
Population over time
2 figuresFolly Beach fell from 2,617 to 2,078 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2,617 | |
| 2020 | 2,078 | -539 (-21%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 15 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1919 USGS James Island quadrangle1:21120, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS James Island quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS James Island quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS James Island quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1968 USGS James Island quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS James Island quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS James Island quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS James Island quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
7 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Folly Beach between 1996 and 2015, burning about 92 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 1 was 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 burning | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 August 1999 | Natural | 4.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 16 July 2015 | Natural | 75 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 28 April 2006 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 11 April 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.4 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 March 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 26 February 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 December 2000 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Folly Beach: 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Zirconium, Thorium, Titanium. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Folly Beach | Iron, Zirconium, Thorium, Titanium | Unknown | Placer , Modern , Beach |
Storms near this place
22 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Folly Beach in 22 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 12 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 3 flash flood, 1 waterspout. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | $25,000 | A portion of a roof was torn off of the Marshview Villas on Mariners Cay Drive near Folly Beach. Several Vehicles in the parking lot needed to be towed away due to the damage from the debris. The screen of a screened in porch was also removed. The same storm knocked down a light pole on the Westbury Bridge. |
| July 2014 | Flash Flood | Folly Beach | $15,000 | Folly Beach police dispatch reported a roadway closed due to flooding at the intersection of Center Street and West Arctic Avenue. There were also other reports of flash flooding in the downtown Folly Beach area including flood waters entering several businesses in the Center Street area. |
| July 2011 | Flash Flood | Folly Beach | $5,000 | The Public reported that 5th East Street was closed due to flooding on Folly Beach, South Carolina. |
| February 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | $5,000 | Strong winds from a gravity wave, produced from nearby thunderstorms, continued past midnight on the 4th. Damage from the winds included a large oak tree blown down in Fort Johnson Estates near the Charleston Harbor on James Island, trees down in the Old Village of Mt. Pleasant, large limbs knocked down in downtown Charleston, and 2 power poles knocked down on Sullivan's Island. |
| July 2018 | Lightning | Folly Beach | $3,000 | Lightning struck a power pole on Folly Beach Road between Oak Island Drive and Little Oak Island Drive resulting in a power outage to Folly Beach. |
| February 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | $2,000 | Nearby thunderstorm produced a gravity wave caused winds to gust to 65 mph on Folly Beach and strong gusts were reported in Charleston, James Island, and Mt. Pleasant prior to midnight on the 4th. One tree was reported blown down on Rifle Range road in Mt. Pleasant. |
| August 2025 | Flood | Folly Beach | - | Social media pictures showed water in a business near the intersection of Center Street and West Arctic Avenue. |
| January 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | - | The Weatherflow site located at the Folly Beach County Park measured a 66.6 mph (57.9 knots) wind gust. |
| February 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | - | The Weatherflow sensor on Folly Beach Pier measured a wind gust of 64 mph. |
| September 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | - | The Weatherflow site at the Folly Beach pier measured a wind gust of 58 knots. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | - | The Weatherflow site at Folly Beach Pier measured a 52 knot wind gust. |
| March 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | - | The Weatherflow site at the Folly Beach pier measured a 51 knot wind gust. |
| September 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | - | The Weatherflow site on the Folly Beach pier measured a 54 knot wind gust. |
| July 2014 | Flash Flood | Folly Beach | - | Law enforcement on Folly Beach reported that portions of Ashley Avenue and Center Street were blocked off with barricades between 2nd East Street and 2nd West Street due to flash flooding. |
| March 2008 | Hail | Folly Beach | - | Nickel and Dime sized hail was reported by a trained weather spotter along Folly Road. |
| May 2008 | Funnel Cloud | Folly Beach | - | A funnel cloud was sighted on Highway 171 near the bridge leading to Folly Beach, South Carolina. |
| August 2001 | Waterspout | Folly Beach | - | Waterspout sited off Kiawah Island moved northeast and then dissipated. |
| August 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | - | Power lines down. |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | - | Trees and limbs down. |
| May 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Folly Beach | - | Large tree limbs down. |
| June 2005 | Hail | Folly Beach | - | no account filed |
| April 1998 | Hail | Folly Beach | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secessionville Acres | 3.2 miles | 15 | |
| Secessionville | 3.5 miles | 15 | |
| Bur Clare | 3.8 miles | 15 | |
| Riverland | 3.8 miles | 15 | |
| Seaside | 3.9 miles | 15 | |
| Grimball Shores | 4.0 miles | 15 | |
| Kings Acres | 4.0 miles | 15 | |
| Westchester | 4.2 miles | 15 |
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 Folly Beach | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1983620 | The 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 1231287. 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.







