Gray Court, South Carolina

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Gray Court census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29645. The Survey maps it on the Laurens North quadrangle. 763 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 804 feet above sea level.

Gray Court within Laurens County

On record in Gray Court

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 2 records

Gray Court-Owings Schoollisted 2004
Gray Court Downtown Historic Districtlisted 2024

Population over time

3 figures

Gray Court fell from 1,021 to 763 between 2000 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
2000	1,021
2010	795	-226 (-22%)
2020	763	-32 (-4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 8 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.

1954 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1957 USGS Fountain Inn quadrangle1:62500
1958 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:250000
1983 USGS Laurens North quadrangle1:24000
1984 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:100000
1991 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:100000

Fires near this place

172 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 172 fires within 5 miles of Gray Court between 1992 and 2020, burning about 518 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 14 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/undetermined	65
Debris and open burning	55
Arson/incendiarism	14
Misuse of fire by a minor	11
Equipment and vehicle use	10
Railroad operations and maintenance	6
Smoking	4
Power generation/transmission/distribution	3
Natural	2
Fireworks	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
7 September 2016	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
5 September 2004	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	3.5 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
4 September 2007	Equipment and vehicle use	5.0 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
23 September 2005	Debris and open burning	under an acre	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
23 September 1993	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
19 September 1999	Arson/incendiarism	1.0 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
18 September 2010	Debris and open burning	1.3 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
17 September 1994	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Laurens County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Gray Court: 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Gray Court #246 Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Entrekin Quarry	Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken	Unknown	1908
Gray Court Quarry	Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer	Metamorphosed Igneous Intrusion

Every working recorded in Laurens County

Storms near this place

48 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gray Court in 48 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 26 thunderstorm wind, 19 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
August 2006	Lightning	Gray Court	$500,000	Lightning struck a church, igniting a fire that destroyed the structure.
July 1997	Flash Flood	Gray Court	$150,000	no account filed
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	$40,000	County comms numerous trees, power lines, and power poles blown down or snapped across the county, with some trees on homes and automobiles, including one in the city of Laurens and in Clinton. An automated sensor measured a gust of 59 kts, or 65 mph at the Laurens County Airport, 4 miles east of the city. A hangar was damaged at the airport and a large tree limb fell on and damaged construction equipment. At the nearby Laurens County Park, the roof was blown off a shed and baseball dugouts. In addition, a retaining wall was blown over outside the stadium at Clinton High School.
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	$10,000	Several trees were blown down. One fell on a house.
June 2005	Flash Flood	Gray Court	$5,000	A bridge on Sullivan Rd over Durbin Creek was washed out.
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	$5,000	Severe thunderstorms developed just south of the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport and moved south across eastern Greenville County and western Spartanburg County along and either side of the Enoree River. A number of trees were blown down, mobile homes were damaged, and some porches, outbuildings, and roofs were damaged by the wind. A fire station was damaged by the wind. In Greenvilloe County there was a large area of macroburst with pockets of more intense microbursts evident. The storms moved into and across northern Laurens County where numerous trees were blown down.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Public reported (via social media) a couple of trees blown down in the Gray Court area. Utility company reported trees down on power lines east of Fountain Inn.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	County comms and spotter reported at least nine trees and several power lines blown down across the Gray Court area, including two large trees down on Georgia Rd.
May 2023	Hail	Gray Court	-	Cocorahs observer reported quarter size hail.
August 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Highway Patrol and the public reported at least a half dozen trees blown down from near Gray Court to areas just west and south of Laurens.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	County comms reported many trees and power lines blown down across the northern part of Laurens County.
May 2014	Hail	Gray Court	-	Public reported 3/4 inch hail near Hickory Tavern.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	FD reported a few small trees blown down at the intersection of Neely Ferry Rd and Kellett Rd.
May 2012	Hail	Gray Court	-	Quarter size hail fell a couple miles to the southeast of Fountain Inn.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	At least one tree and multiple large limbs were blown down in the Gray Court area, with one tree on a mobile home.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Numerous trees were blown down in a broad area from near Gray Court, across the Laurens area, southest to near Clinton.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Multiple trees were blown down across much of the western part of the county from Gray Court down to Hickory Tavern and Ware Shoals.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Trees and large limbs were blown down in the Gray Court area. One tree was blown onto a house in Gray Court.
March 2011	Hail	Gray Court	-	Hail up to the size of golf balls covered the ground about 2 miles southwest of Gray Court. Other reports of penny to quarter size hail were received over to the Gray Court town limits.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Trees were blown down in and around Gray Court.
June 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Trees and power lines blown down.
May 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	A tree was blown down on Durbin Rd and the tops were blown out of two trees on Harris Grove Church Rd.
June 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Seven large trees blown down along Greenpond Rd.
June 2007	Hail	Gray Court	-	Reported on Fairview Rd.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	A tree was blown down in the downtown area. A tree was also downed on Ora Road, and a couple of trees were reported down in Laurens at around the same time.
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Trees were blown down.
May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Several trees were blown down.
November 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Some trees were blown down.
May 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Numerous pine trees were blown down along Pennington Road.
December 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	3 trees were blown down across roads. Trees also reported down in other parts of the county.
August 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	Two trees blown down.
April 2011	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
June 2011	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
May 2011	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
March 2010	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
April 2009	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
June 2004	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	no account filed
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	no account filed
July 2000	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
June 2000	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
April 1999	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
June 1999	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
July 1998	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray Court	-	no account filed
March 1997	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
June 1997	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed
May 1995	Hail	Gray Court	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Laurens 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Owings	1.9 miles	8
Barksdale	3.0 miles	8
Powers Shop (historical)	3.0 miles	8
Edens (historical)	4.3 miles	8
Martin Crossroads	4.6 miles	8
Youngs	4.6 miles	8
Doubling (historical)	4.8 miles	8
Green Pond	4.9 miles	8

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 Gray Court	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3049622	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 1245816. 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.