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Lake City, South Carolina

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1946 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Lake City-Scranton census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29560. It stands on Camp Branch. The Survey maps it on the Lake City West quadrangle. 5,903 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 75 feet above sea level.

Lake City within Florence County

On record in Lake City

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 5 records

Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Lake City fell from 6,675 to 5,903 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
20106,675
20205,903-772 (-12%)

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.

Photographs

2 photographs,

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.

Tobacco Redrying Plant, Railroad Avenue, Lake City, Florence County, SC
Tobacco Redrying Plant, Railroad Avenue, Lake City, Florence County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Browntown Cotton Gin, SC Route 341 between Johnsonville & Lake City, Johnsonville, Florence County, SC
Browntown Cotton Gin, SC Route 341 between Johnsonville & Lake City, Johnsonville, Florence County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

563 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 563 fires within 5 miles of Lake City between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,142 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 176 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 burning185
Arson/incendiarism176
Missing data/not specified/undetermined138
Equipment and vehicle use35
Misuse of fire by a minor17
Natural4
Smoking3
Recreation and ceremony2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
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
8 September 2018Debris and open burning5.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
8 September 2005Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 2007Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1997Arson/incendiarism1.5 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 2018Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 2001Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Florence County

Storms near this place

43 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lake City in 43 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 20 thunderstorm wind, 16 hail, 4 tornado, 2 flash flood. The reports record 11 injuries. 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
September 1994Tornado (F1)Lake City11 hurt, $500,000A tornado, described as a big white twisting cloud, picked up two mobile homes, twisted them in the air and tore them apart; six other mobile homes were damaged. Three girls who saw the approaching tornado vacated one of the mobile homes before it was picked up and destroyed; a woman was thrown out of another mobile home and seriously injured. Three homes, six cars, and two businesses were damaged, also power lines and trees were downed, and eleven people (eight treated at local hospital and released) received minor injuries. The roof was blown off a lumber company's Show Room.
August 2004Flash FloodLake City$200,000Heavy rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston totaled around 6 inches in a few hours, causing flooding...especially in the Lake City and city of Darlington areas.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindLake City$100,000A roof was blown off a store. A large billboard was torn apart. Wooden bleachers were destroyed, with trees down of various sizes. Both a Hardees and a Dominos sign were blown apart. Damage occurred along US Hwy 378.
April 2019Thunderstorm WindLake City$75,000A large tree was blown down on a house on Dansing St.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindLake City$70,000no account filed
September 2004Tornado (F1)Lake City$20,000A tornado destoyed a barn and snapped trees. A house sustained minor damage.
August 2024Flash FloodLake City$10,000Several roads have been barricaded in downtown Lake City, including Williamsburg Avenue, Charles Street at Blanding Street, Wilson Street, Winkys Drive at Liberty Drive, Singletary Avenue at East Main Street, and Wilbur Street.
June 1998Tornado (F0)Lake City$10,000no account filed
July 2009Thunderstorm WindLake City$2,000A tree was reported down on a power line.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindLake City$1,000A tree was down near the intersection of S Indiantown Rd. and Broadway Rd. The time was estimated based on radar data.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindLake City$1,000A tree was reportedly down along Highway 52.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindLake City$1,000Tree down across McCutcheon Road.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindLake City$1,000A tree was reported down on Johnsonville Highway near McClam Road. The time was estimated based on radar data.
May 2017HailLake City$500Hail to the size of quarters was reported. The time was estimated based on radar data.
May 2024HailLake City-Quarter to ping pong size hail in Lake City and Barrineau relayed by media. Time estimated by radar. .
July 2022Thunderstorm WindLake City-Trees were blown down across power lines near the intersection of highway 341 and South Wallace St.
March 2008HailLake City-A cooperative observer reported hail up to the size of quarters. Dead trees were also blown down.
June 2007HailLake City-Nickel size hail was reported.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindLake City-Trees and power lines down.
May 2006HailLake City-Penny size hail fell on Hwy 378.
May 2006HailLake City-Penny size hail was reported.
May 2006HailLake City-Hail reported on Hwy 378.
May 2006HailLake City-Penny size hail fell.
May 2005HailLake City-Penny size hail was reported by the South Lynches Fire department.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindLake City-Florence 911 reported a large tree down across Lake City Hwy.
June 2001LightningLake City-Lightning struck an antenna tower, causing minor damage to the emergency dispatch system. The damage estimate is unknown.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindLake City-Law enforcement reported a large tree down across Wiley Rd.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindLake City-Fire department reported power lines down due to winds.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindLake City-Trees down.
April 1998HailLake City-Hail covered the ground between Lake city and Scranton...reported by Florence County SO
May 1998HailLake City-Along with hail, wind damaged wheat field near Lake City.
April 1997Thunderstorm WindLake City-NUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN LAKE CITY
January 1997Thunderstorm WindLake City-no account filed
April 1997HailLake City-no account filed
June 1996HailLake City-no account filed
June 1996HailLake City-no account filed
June 1996HailLake City-no account filed
April 1996Thunderstorm WindLake City-no account filed
September 1996Tornado (F0)Lake City-no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindLake City-no account filed
March 1996HailLake City-no account filed
June 1995Thunderstorm WindLake City-no account filed
June 1994Thunderstorm WindLake City-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Florence 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
Kelley Heights0.7 miles8
Wedgefield0.9 miles8
Palmetto Estates1.0 miles8
Kennedy Park1.1 miles8
Wren Village1.3 miles8
Martha Law Estates1.6 miles8
Greenbriar Estates1.9 miles8
Scranton3.3 miles8

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 Lake CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2837374The 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 1246275. 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.