BlockPowdersville, South Carolina
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1935 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Powdersville-Piedmont census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29611. The Survey maps it on the Greenville quadrangle. 10,025 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 971 feet above sea level.
On record in Powdersville
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 within a mile 1 record
The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.
- Woodson Farmsteadlisted 1998 · 0.5 miles away
Population over time
2 figuresPowdersville grew from 7,618 to 10,025 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 7,618 | |
| 2020 | 10,025 | +2,407 (+32%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 14 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.
- 1935 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:48000
- 1938 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:62500
- 1958 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:100000
- 1991 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
137 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 137 fires within 5 miles of Powdersville between 1992 and 2020, burning about 474 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 16 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 | 49 |
| Debris and open burning | 36 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 16 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 11 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 28 September 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 September 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 2.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 September 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 23 September 2005 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Powdersville: 3 prospects, 2 past producers, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Mica, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vulcan Materials Co. S. Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| B E Woodson Prospect | Mica | Prospect | ||
| Boling Mine | Mica | Past Producer | ||
| C H Ellis Prospect | Mica | Prospect | ||
| G F Fuller Deposit | Mica | Occurrence | ||
| R S Berry Prospect | Mica | Prospect |
Storms near this place
38 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Powdersville in 38 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 20 thunderstorm wind, 14 hail, 3 flash flood, 1 lightning. The reports record 1 death and 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2024 | Flash Flood | Powdersville | 1 killed, $300,000 | Stream gauges on the Saluda River in west Greenville and west Pelzer indicated flash flooding developed along the river after 8-15 inches of rain fell across the foothills in three days, with 1.5 to 2.5 inches of that falling in less than three hours on the morning of the 27th. Multiple homes and structures were inundated and damaged on the Anderson County side of the river from Powdersville down to Pelzer, including on Lakeview Dr, Birch River Rd, and on River Rd. A 60-year-old woman was killed when her vehicle was swept away in floodwater. |
| July 1999 | Lightning | Powdersville | 1 hurt | no account filed |
| February 2020 | Flash Flood | Powdersville | $500,000 | Stream gauges indicated flash flooding developed across northeast Anderson County after 4 to 6 inches of rain fell across the area in about 24 hours, with much of the falling during the morning and early afternoon of the 6th. A stream gauge on Eighteen Mile Creek near Pendleton indicated flooding of Central Rd and Bishop Branch Rd. Meanwhile, rare flash flooding of a main stem river occurred along the Saluda River from west Greenville/ Powdersville to West Pelzer, flooding multiple roads in the Anderson County side of the river. Newspaper reported multiple other roads closed due to a combination of poor drainage and small stream flooding across Powdersville, Anderson, and Willimaston. These included Shackleburg Rd, Scotts Bridge Rd, Mountain Springs Rd, and Orr Rd. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | $10,000 | Ham radio operator and county comms reported multiple trees blown down west of Powdersville, including in the area around Smoak Dr, Cely Rd, and Circle Rd. One tree fell on a mobile home, briefly trapping residents inside. |
| April 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | $10,000 | Public reported a tree was blown down, damaging a deck and a pool on Blue Forest Ln. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | $2,000 | no account filed |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | Public reported trees and powerlines blown down in the Powdersville area. |
| February 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | County comms reported a tree and power lines were blown down along Old Pendleton Rd in the Powdersville area. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Powdersville | - | CoCoRahs observer reported golf ball size hail in the Powdersville area. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | Spotters and county comms reported multiple trees and large limbs blown down across northeast Anderson County from Lakeview Dr across Powdersville and Easley to the area around Red Barn Rd and Slab Bridge Rd. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | County comms reported trees blown down near Mt. Airy Church Rd and Wyatt Rd. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | County comms and public reported multiple trees blown down in the area centered around the intersections of Anderson Rd and River Rd with Highway 153. |
| October 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | County comms reported several trees blown down in the northeast part of Anderson County. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Powdersville | - | Public reported (via Social Media) 3/4 inch hail in the Powdersville area. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Powdersville | - | Public reported 3/4 inch hail between Easley and Powdersville. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Powdersville | - | Public reported nickel size hail in the Powdersville area. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | County comms and public reported numerous trees blown down in the south Easley and Powdersville area, from Wren Crossing Ln to near the Greenville County line. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | County comms reported a tree blown down on Bonanza Cir. HAM radio operator reported a tree and power lines blown down on Vinewood St. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | Public reported multiple large tree limbs blown down on Raven Wood Cir. |
| April 2012 | Hail | Powdersville | - | Quarter size hail fell at the intersection of Old Pendleton Rd and highway 153. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | Multiple trees were blown down in areas west and southwest of Powdersville. A tree crushed a vehicle and another tree fell on a home on Three and Twenty Rd. |
| April 2011 | Hail | Powdersville | - | Golf ball size hail fell near the intersection of East Church Rd and highway 8. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | A tree and several large limbs were blown down between I-85 and the county line. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | Trees were blown down in the northern part of Anderson County. |
| May 2009 | Flash Flood | Powdersville | - | Cravens Creek overflowed its banks, flooding a portion of River Rd. |
| June 2009 | Hail | Powdersville | - | Hail was reported near the intersection of I-85 and highway 53. |
| June 2009 | Hail | Powdersville | - | Hail was reported at the intersection of highway 81 and highway 153. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | Trees down on Bonanza Circle. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | A tree was blown down on Sitton Hill Rd. |
| August 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | Two trees down. |
| June 2009 | Hail | Powdersville | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Powdersville | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Powdersville | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Powdersville | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Powdersville | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Powdersville | - | no account filed |
| April 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Powdersville | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piedmont | 6.4 miles | 10 | |
| White Plains | 8.5 miles | 17 | |
| West Pelzer | 10.2 miles | 10 | |
| Pelzer | 10.5 miles | 10 | |
| Piercetown | 10.7 miles | 17 | |
| Williamston | 12.0 miles | 9 | |
| Five Forks | 14.4 miles | 16 | |
| Cheddar | 14.7 miles | 9 |
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 Powdersville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2359114 | 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 1250233. 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.