Modoc, South Carolina
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Parksville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29838. It stands on Reese Branch. The Survey maps it on the Clarks Hill quadrangle. 312 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 400 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresModoc grew from 256 to 312 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 | 256 | |
| 2010 | 218 | -38 (-15%) |
| 2020 | 312 | +94 (+43%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 24 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.
- 1892 USGS Mc Cormick quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1912 USGS Mc Cormick quadrangle1:125000
- 1920 USGS Clarks Hill quadrangle1:48000
- 1921 USGS Clarks Hill quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1941 USGS Clarks Hill quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1942 USGS Clarks Hill quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Clarks Hill quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1980 USGS Clark Hill Lake quadrangle1:100000
- 1988 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
87 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 87 fires within 5 miles of Modoc between 1992 and 2020, burning about 323 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 5 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 | 37 |
| Debris and open burning | 17 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 7 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 26 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 22 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 2 September 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 9 August 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 August 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Francis Marion & Sumter National Forests | MODOC |
| 13 August 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 13 August 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Modoc: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bussey Property | Gold | Past Producer | Vein |
Storms near this place
14 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Modoc in 14 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Modoc | $2,000 | DOT reported trees down on secondary road 93 between Parksville and Modoc. |
| August 2025 | Flash Flood | Modoc | - | McCormick County Dispatch reported a portion of US 221 near State Park Rd was closed due to flash flooding. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Modoc | - | Reported a power line down along Confederate Drive along Lake Thurmond in the Modoc community. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Modoc | - | A tree was downed at Hamilton Branch State Park. Time estimated. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Modoc | - | McCormick Co dispatch reported trees down at Forrest Dr and Breckenridge Ln in the Modoc area. Time estimated. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Modoc | - | Reported trees and power lines down at 3047 Hwy. 23 West. |
| April 2010 | Hail | Modoc | - | Public reported quarter size hail at Modoc Campground. |
| April 2010 | Hail | Modoc | - | Public reported quarter size hail at the Modoc Campground. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Modoc | - | Trees and limbs down along with some dime size hail at the Modoc Army Corps of Engineers Camp at Lake Thurmond. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Modoc | - | Public reported some trees down in Modoc. |
| May 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Modoc | - | Sheriff and damage survey found trees down across lower McCormick county. |
| April 1996 | Hail | Modoc | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Modoc | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Modoc | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parksville | 3.7 miles | 16 | |
| Clarks Hill | 4.6 miles | 24 | |
| Meriwether | 6.1 miles | 24 | |
| Parks Mill | 8.3 miles | 16 | |
| Woodlawn | 8.4 miles | 24 | |
| Plum Branch | 8.5 miles | 16 | |
| Bethany (historical) | 8.5 miles | 16 | |
| Whitetown | 8.6 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 Modoc | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2684886 | 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 1246704. 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.












