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Isle of Palms, South Carolina

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Mount Pleasant census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29451. It lies near Little Goat Island. The Survey maps it on the Fort Moultrie quadrangle. 4,347 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3 feet above sea level.

Isle of Palms within Charleston County

Population over time

2 figures

Isle of Palms grew from 4,133 to 4,347 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
20104,133
20204,347+214 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 17 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

54 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 54 fires within 5 miles of Isle of Palms between 1992 and 2015, burning about 397 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 9 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 burning21
Missing data/not specified/undetermined20
Arson/incendiarism9
Natural1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Equipment and vehicle use1
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
13 August 1995Missing data/not specified/undetermined12 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
2 July 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined45 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
9 June 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
29 June 2011Power generation/transmission/distribution29 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
13 June 2001Natural40 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
11 June 2000Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
1 June 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
6 May 2000Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Charleston County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Isle of Palms: 4 unknowns, 3 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Zirconium, Titanium, Iron, Thorium, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Clay. 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
Fort Moultrie QuadrangleZirconium, Titanium, Iron, ThoriumUnknownPlacer , Modern , Beach
Island PitSand and Gravel, Construction, ClayUnknownSedimentary
Island PitSand and Gravel, Construction, ClayProducer
Isle of Palms (Area 1)Iron, Titanium, ZirconiumUnknownPlacer , Modern , Beach
Isle of Palms (Area 2)Iron, Titanium, ThoriumUnknownPlacer , Modern , Beach
East Copper #1Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
R & L PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Shell Point (Mt. Pleasant Pit)Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducerSedimentary
Yaupon PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Charleston County

Storms near this place

17 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Isle of Palms in 17 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 8 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 3 hail, 1 waterspout. The reports record 1 injury. 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 2001LightningIsle Of Palms1 hurtA 32 year old man experienced a double jolt from lightening within a 10 minute span. The man was driving a Toyota pickup when a bolt of lightning struck his CB antenna. This caused the antenna to pop off, it broke out the rear window on the cab and blew out the left rear tire. When he stopped the truck to get out to assess the damage, a second bolt of lightning hit the bed of the pickup and the force threw him out into the roadway.
July 2000Tornado (F0)Isle Of Palms$200,000Waterspout came ashore briefly and damaged two homes under construction. A flower pot was thrown through a car window a block away.
May 2011HailIsle Of Palms$30,000The Public reported quarter to golf ball size hail and estimated winds to be around 60 mph near the Wild Dunes resort on Isle of Palms, South Carolina. The individual reported that car windows were broken by the large hail.
August 2024Tornado (EF1)Isle Of Palms-A National Weather Service Storm Survey Team confirmed an EF1 tornado with an estimated maximum wind speed of 87 mph in Isle of Palms, South Carolina occurring from 1233 AM to 1237 AM EST. ||The brief tornado, associated with an outer rainband from Tropical Storm Debby, moved onshore near 25th Avenue where it did minor roof damage to one house and also pulled the front door out the frame. The tornado continued north-northwest along 25th Avenue between Palm Boulevard and Hartnett Boulevard, where it pulled out a few windows and snapped/uprooted some trees. As the tornado moved just north of Hartnett Boulevard, it removed the shingles from a portion of the roofs from a few homes. Beyond this point, the tornado curved a bit more northwest and snapped a few more trees before starting to lift near the intersection of Waterway Boulevard and 24th Avenue, then dissipated within the Intra Coastal Waterway. Overall, an estimated 29 homes sustained some level of damage, either directly by the tornado or from trees or large limbs falling on them.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindIsle Of Palms-The Weatherflow sensor at Isle of Palms Pier measured a peak wind gust of 59 mph.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindIsle Of Palms-The Weatherflow sensor at the Isle of Palms Pier measured a 62 mph wind gust.
February 2020Thunderstorm WindIsle Of Palms-The Weatherflow sensor on the Isle of Palms Pier measured a wind gust of 63 mph.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindIsle Of Palms-The Charleston County 911 Call Center reported a tree down at the intersection of 4th Avenue and Merritt Boulevard.
April 2017Thunderstorm WindIsle Of Palms-The Weatherflow site at the Isle of Palms Pier recorded a 50 knot wind gust.
September 2017Thunderstorm WindIsle Of Palms-The Weatherflow site at the Isle of Palms pier measured a 50 knot wind gust.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindIsle Of Palms-The Weatherflow site at the Isle of Palms pier measured a 61 knot wind gust with a passing thunderstorm.
May 2011HailIsle Of Palms-The public reported baseball size hail on Isle of Palms, South Carolina.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindIsle Of Palms-The Public reported quarter to golf ball size hail and estimated winds to be around 60 mph near the Wild Dunes resort on Isle of Palms, South Carolina. The individual reported that car windows were broken by the large hail.
August 2004Tornado (F1)Isle Of Palms-A tornado moved through the Wild Dunes private community causing widespread damage. An estimated 250 trees were blown down, several of which fell on cars. Also, windows were blown out of cars. About25 homes received minor roof and siding damage and a half dozen homes received moderate damage. An estimated 300 pound swing set was thrown about 15 feet.
August 2000Tornado (F0)Isle Of Palms-A waterspout that was moving just off the coast of the Isle of Palms came ashore briefly and threw around a couple of beach chairs and some beach towels. The waterspout dissipated almost immediately once it came ashore.
March 2003HailIsle Of Palms-no account filed
August 1996WaterspoutIsle Of Palms-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Charleston 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
Island of Palms0.6 miles17
Forest Trail2.0 miles17
Seaside Farms Estates2.3 miles17
Cassina Heights2.5 miles17
Sullivans Island2.8 miles17
The Village2.8 miles17
Harborgate2.9 miles17
Myrtle Acres3.1 miles17

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 Isle of PalmsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1843576The 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 1227790. 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.