Privateer, South Carolina
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1946 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Privateer census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29154. The Survey maps it on the Privateer quadrangle. 1,980 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 171 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresPrivateer fell from 2,118 to 1,980 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 | 2,118 | |
| 2010 | 2,349 | +231 (+11%) |
| 2020 | 1,980 | -369 (-16%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 15 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.
- 1946 USGS Sumter quadrangle1:62500
- 1954 USGS Augusta quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Augusta quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Sumter quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Augusta quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Augusta quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Augusta quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Privateer quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS Sumter quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Sumter quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
456 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 456 fires within 5 miles of Privateer between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,109 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 84 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 | 209 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 115 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 84 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 19 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 12 |
| Natural | 5 |
| Smoking | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 30 September 2001 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 30 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 3 September 2014 | Natural | 10 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 24 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | 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 Privateer: 1 producer. All of them still produce. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sumter Asphalt Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
17 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Privateer in 17 storm reports between 2009 and 2025: 13 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2011 | Tornado (EF1) | Privateer | $48,000 | NWS Storm Survey confirmed an EF1 tornado of winds near 90 mph had intermittent touch downs along its path. Numerous trees were either blown over or snapped. Minor damage was done to several homes. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | $4,000 | Poinsette State Park officials reported a few trees down and large branches down near Bethel Church and Loyd Roads. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | $500 | Highway Patrol reported a tree down on Bethel Church road. |
| April 2022 | Hail | Privateer | $10 | Pea size hail reported in Privateer. Time estimated. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | - | SC DPS website reported a tree in roadway near the intersection of Bethel Church Road and Stanford Drive. Time estimated by radar. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | - | Sumter county dispatch reported trees down on Bethel Church Road near the intersection of Lloyd Drive. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | - | SC Department of Public Safety reported trees down on Pinewood Road near Starks Ferry Road. Time estimated by radar. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | - | SC Department of Public Safety reported trees down on Pinewood Road near South Saint Pauls Church Road. Time estimated by radar. |
| August 2024 | Flash Flood | Privateer | - | Sumter County dispatch reported six inches of water flowing across Cains Mill Road near Nasty Branch. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | - | Sumter Co dispatch reported trees and power lines down at Nettles Rd and Bethel Church Rd. Time estimated. |
| March 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | - | SCHP reported trees down near the intersection of Starks Ferry Rd and Kolb Rd. Time estimated. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | - | Trees and power lines blown down near Bethel Church Rd and US Hwy 15 S. Time estimated. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | - | SC Highway Patrol reported two trees down, one on Starks Ferry Rd near Bethel Church Rd, and one on Pinewood Rd near Gwendale Rd. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | - | Reported trees down on Highway 15. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | - | South Carolina Highway Patrol reports trees down at Kolb Rd. and Starks Ferry Rd. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Privateer | - | Sheriff dispatch reported a tree down on Cains Mill Road. |
| June 2009 | Hail | Privateer | - | Several public reports of quarter size hail covering the ground in the vicinity of Hwy 15 and Bethal Church Rd. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Lake Estates | 1.3 miles | 15 | |
| Harvins Crossroads | 1.3 miles | 15 | |
| Briarcliff Estates | 2.1 miles | 15 | |
| Southgate | 2.1 miles | 15 | |
| Tindal | 3.2 miles | 14 | |
| Lakewood | 3.5 miles | 14 | |
| Spring Lake | 3.7 miles | 17 | |
| Ashley Creek Village | 3.7 miles | 17 |
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 Privateer | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q509007 | 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 1231693. 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.









