Luray, South Carolina
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1918 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Estill census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29932. The Survey maps it on the Gifford quadrangle. 98 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 138 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresLuray fell from 115 to 98 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 | 115 | |
| 2010 | 127 | +12 (+10%) |
| 2020 | 98 | -29 (-23%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 16 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.
- 1918 USGS Varnville quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1944 USGS Varnville quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Savannah quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Savannah quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Savannah quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Savannah quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Savannah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1981 USGS Sylvania quadrangle1:100000
- 1988 USGS Gifford quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
240 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 240 fires within 5 miles of Luray between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,237 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 50 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 burning | 93 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 64 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 50 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 18 |
| Natural | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 1997 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 28 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 24 September 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 2 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Luray: 1 past producer, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unidentified Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Unidentified Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | Sedimentary |
Storms near this place
10 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Luray in 10 storm reports between 2006 and 2023: 9 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2013 | Flash Flood | Luray | $2,000 | Three roads were reported closed in Luray due to flash flooding, including society Street. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Luray | $2,000 | Trees down. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Luray | - | The Hampton County 911 Call Center reported a tree down on Deer Road. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Luray | - | The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down on Highway 321 near the intersection with Luray Highway. |
| December 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Luray | - | Law enforcement reported a tree in roadway near the intersection of Fitts Street and Rouse Avenue. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Luray | - | The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down at Columbia Highway and Industry Drive. |
| April 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Luray | - | The Hampton County Warning Point reported a tree down on Highway 321. |
| April 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Luray | - | The Hampton County Warning Point reported a tree down on Highway 363. |
| April 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Luray | - | The Hampton Fire and Rescue reported trees down and blocking the road in the 2600 block of Hope Well Road. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Luray | - | South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down on Hope Well Road near the intersection with Grass Hill Road. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valentine | 1.2 miles | 15 | |
| Gifford | 3.2 miles | 16 | |
| Estill | 4.1 miles | 16 | |
| Peeples (historical) | 4.2 miles | 15 | |
| Lena | 4.4 miles | 16 | |
| Lawtonville Crossroads | 4.4 miles | 15 | |
| Rouse | 5.3 miles | 15 | |
| Dukes | 5.8 miles | 16 |
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 Luray | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2684396 | 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 1246484. 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.








