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Great Branch, South Carolina

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1946 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Orangeburg West census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29115. It stands on Grape Branch. The Survey maps it on the Wolfton quadrangle.

Great Branch within Orangeburg County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 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

399 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 399 fires within 5 miles of Great Branch between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,254 acres in total. None started naturally. 11 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 burning235
Missing data/not specified/undetermined75
Misuse of fire by a minor29
Equipment and vehicle use23
Smoking20
Arson/incendiarism11
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Recreation and ceremony2
Other causes1

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 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 2006Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2004Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
23 September 2001Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined12 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
19 September 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
15 September 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Orangeburg County

Storms near this place

10 since 2012

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Great Branch in 10 storm reports between 2012 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. The reports record 1 death. 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 2012Thunderstorm WindGreat Branch1 killed, $4,000Highway Patrol reported trees down near Hwy 400 and Cut Off Road. One tree fell on a Chevy Tahoe killing its occupant.
September 2014Thunderstorm WindGreat Branch$4,000Dispatch reported powerlines down on Norway Road.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindGreat Branch-Orangeburg Fire dept reported trees down in the roadway on Wille Rd and Beason Rd. Time estimated by radar.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindGreat Branch-Orangeburg County EM reports trees down at 299 Beason Rd. Time estimated by radar.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindGreat Branch-SC Highway Patrol reported a tree down along Norway Road. Time estimated by radar.
August 2022HailGreat Branch-Nickel size hail reported at Shillings Bridge Rd and Plow Rd. Time estimated.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindGreat Branch-SCHP Reported trees down on SC Hwy 4 and Shillings Bridge Rd. Time estimated.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindGreat Branch-SCHP reported tree down at Beason Rd and Neeses Hwy (SC Hwy 4). Time estimated.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindGreat Branch-Trees in roadway on SC Hwy 4 near intersection with SC Hwy 400.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindGreat Branch-Multiple trees downed near Neeses Hwy and Norway Rd.

Every storm recorded in Orangeburg 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
Poplar Spring1.5 miles18
Gravel Hill2.0 miles18
Meadowridge2.9 miles13
Country Club Estates3.0 miles13
Beverly Hills3.2 miles18
Woodridge3.2 miles13
Gerwil Acres3.3 miles13
Greenfield3.4 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.

Wikidata item Q122547186The 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 1231340. 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.

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.