Oakway, South Carolina

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Oakway census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29693. The Survey maps it on the Oakway quadrangle.

Oakway within Oconee County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 18 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.

1886 USGS Walhalla quadrangle1:125000
1892 USGS Walhalla quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
1896 USGS Walhalla quadrangle1:125000
1954 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1958 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:250000
1963 USGS Oakway quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
1981 USGS Toccoa quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

Fires near this place

151 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 151 fires within 5 miles of Oakway between 1992 and 2020, burning about 361 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 12 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	61
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	43
Arson/incendiarism	12
Equipment and vehicle use	11
Smoking	9
Misuse of fire by a minor	6
Natural	3
Fireworks	2
Recreation and ceremony	2
Other causes	1
Railroad operations and maintenance	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
5 September 2003	Smoking	1.0 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
5 September 1998	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
17 September 2009	Smoking	under an acre	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
14 September 1998	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
9 August 2006	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
9 August 2002	Misuse of fire by a minor	under an acre	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
8 August 2002	Equipment and vehicle use	4.0 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named
7 August 2002	Debris and open burning	2.0 acres	South Carolina Forestry Commission	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Oconee County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Oakway: 2 unknowns, 1 past producer, 1 occurrence, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Mica. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Parker Deposit	Mica	Occurrence
Richland Sand Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown	Sedimentary
Richland Sand Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Sitton Prospect	Gold	Unknown	Vein
Sitton Prospect	Gold	Prospect

Every working recorded in Oconee County

Storms near this place

24 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oakway in 24 storm reports between 1994 and 2022: 11 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood. The reports record 1 death and 5 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
April 2020	Tornado (EF3)	Oakway	1 killed, 5 hurt, $100,000,000	NWS Storm Survey found the path of a strong EF3 tornado that began across southern Oconee County, just south of Westminster along Retreat Rd and W Oak Highway. As the tornado moved northeast, damage was largely confined to uprooted and snapped trees as it crossed Highway 11, Brown Farm Rd, and the Coneross Creek drainage before moving into the southwest side of Seneca. The tornado intensified rapidly after crossing S Radio Station Rd. A house on Return Church Rd experienced complete structural collapse, which combined with surrounding vegetation damage of numerous trees snapped and/or debarked was suggestive of strong EF3 damage, or 160 mph peak wind gusts. The tornado maintained EF3 intensity as it continued northeast, destroying a significant portion of a manufacturing facility Between Return Church Rd and Wells Highway. A 77-year-old male employee was killed inside the facility. Four other employees received mostly minor injuries. At least strong EF2 damage continued as the tornado approached the center of Seneca, with numerous homes receiving minor to severe damage, including EF3 damage to at least one house on Ploma Dr. The tornado rapidly weakened as it continued northeast into the east side of Seneca, but continued to snap and uproot numerous trees as it crossed Shiloh Rd and Clemson Blvd. The tornado moved over Lake Keowee a couple of miles north of Clemson Blvd, crossing into Pickens County. This was the first EF3 or stronger tornado in upstate South Carolina since 1994. It was also the first known EF3 or stronger tornado to impact the western Carolinas during the overnight hours.
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Oakway	$50,000	no account filed
May 1998	Tornado (F0)	Oakway	$5,000	A weak tornado briefly touched down in the town of Oakway downing trees and blowing roofs off outbuildings. The tornado was seen by several citizens and weather spotters.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Oakway	$1,000	Trees and power lines were blown down.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Oakway	-	County comms reported multiple trees blown down and blocking roads southwest of Seneca, including on Return Church Rd and Fire Tower Rd.
April 2018	Hail	Oakway	-	Multiple Social Media reports of pea to nickel size hail were received from the Oakway area to locations south of Seneca.
July 2018	Hail	Oakway	-	Public reported mostly dime to nickel size hail with a few quarter size stones in the Oakway area.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Oakway	-	County comms reported trees blown down on Blackjack Rd, South Union Rd, and at Shelor Ferry Rd and North Port Bass Rd.
July 2013	Flash Flood	Oakway	-	A low spot along Highway 24 near the intersection with Highway 11 reportedly had water moving swiftly across it, making it difficult for traffic to pass.
July 2013	Heavy Rain	Oakway	-	Runoff from heavy rain caused deep ponding of water on Barrett Way near Choestoa Creek.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Oakway	-	Trees were blown down on Blackjack Rd.
January 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Oakway	-	Numerous trees were blown down between Westminster and Fair Play.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Oakway	-	Numerous reports of downed trees were received from the Georgia border to Ricks\|Rd to the I-85/highway 11 intersection. A boat dock on Lake Hartwell was overturned in this area.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Oakway	-	Numerous trees and power lines down between Oakway and Fair Play. Also, numerous trees down in the Chickasaw Point community along Lake Hartwell.
April 2002	Hail	Oakway	-	Reported in South Union.
April 2012	Hail	Oakway	-	no account filed
April 2012	Hail	Oakway	-	no account filed
June 2010	Hail	Oakway	-	no account filed
May 2006	Hail	Oakway	-	no account filed
July 2006	Hail	Oakway	-	no account filed
July 2005	Hail	Oakway	-	no account filed
May 2003	Hail	Oakway	-	no account filed
August 1999	Hail	Oakway	-	no account filed
August 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Oakway	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Oconee 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Hicks Store	2.3 miles	17
Retreat	2.5 miles	17
Cross Roads	2.6 miles	17
Earles Grove	3.0 miles	17
Return	3.1 miles	16
South Union	3.7 miles	18
The Woods	4.1 miles	16
Brock	4.5 miles	17

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1249934. 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.