BlockBefore

Smoaks, South Carolina

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Smoaks census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29481. It stands on Steedley Branch. The Survey maps it on the Williams quadrangle. 98 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 105 feet above sea level.

Smoaks within Colleton County

Population over time

2 figures

Smoaks fell from 126 to 98 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.

YearPeople Change
2010126
202098-28 (-22%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 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.

Fires near this place

447 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 447 fires within 5 miles of Smoaks between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,808 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 100 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/undetermined158
Debris and open burning147
Arson/incendiarism100
Equipment and vehicle use21
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Natural4
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Smoking3
Other causes2
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 September 1999Equipment and vehicle use2.1 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2005Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2005Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 2019Equipment and vehicle use2.7 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2019Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
24 September 2019Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Colleton County

Storms near this place

45 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Smoaks in 45 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 36 thunderstorm wind, 6 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2024Flash FloodSmoaks$10,000Law enforcement reported a portion of roadway washed out near the intersection of Mill Pond Road and Low Country Highway.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$2,500Trees were reported down in Smoaks, SC.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$2,000The public reported trees down at the intersection of Berea Road and Buckhead Road.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$1,000A Colleton County emergency manager reported a tree down along Community Lane near Gateway Lane.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$1,000A Colleton County emergency manager reported a tree down due to thunderstorm|outflow near 3000 Clatty Farm Road.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$1,000The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down due to thunderstorm outflow near the intersection of Beulah Road and Lodge Highway.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$1,000The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down on Buckhead Road near Berea Road. Damage was associated with a thunderstorm outflow.
September 2013Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$1,000The Department of Highways reported a tree down near the intersection of Highway 61 and Highway 217.
September 2012Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$1,000A 911 call center reported a tree down at Smyly road off of Mt Carmel Road.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$500One tree blown down on Lowcountry Highway at Community Avenue.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$500One tree was reported down near the intersection of Highway 61 and Highway 21.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$500A tree was reported down on Highway 217 in Smoaks.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindSmoaks$500A tree was reported down in front of Smoaks Baptist Church at 4433 Lodge Highway.
July 2025LightningSmoaks-Colleton County Fire and Rescue reported that a home at 1462 Johnsville Road was heavily damaged by a fire due to electrical damage caused by a lightning strike. The home suffered significant damage due to the fire, especially on the back side of the structure. The occupant of the home suffered burns to the arms in attempts to extinguish the fire prior to the arrival of Fire and Rescue.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Colleton County dispatch reported a tree down on Beavers Pass Road near Sunrise Road.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Colleton County dispatch reported a tree down on Clatty Farm Road.
January 2024Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Colleton County Emergency Management reported a tree down near the intersection of Beavers Pass Road and Low Country Highway.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Colleton County Emergency Management reported a road blocked due to a tree near the intersection of Lowcountry Highway and Buckhead Road.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Colleton County Emergency Management reported a tree and power lines down near the intersection of Lowcountry Highway and Phoenix Circle.
July 2022HailSmoaks-Penny sized hail was reported by the public near Smoaks.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-A Colleton County emergency manager reported a tree down on Beulah Road near the intersection with Lodge Highway.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-The Colleton County 911 Call Center reported a tree down on Strickland Farm Road.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-A tree was reported down on Augusta Highway near Drain Road.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-The Colleton County 911 Call Center reported a tree on a power line near the intersection of Sunrise Road and Drain Road.
March 2020Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Colleton County dispatch reported a tree down on Beulah Road.
March 2020Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Colleton County dispatch reported a tree down on Low Country Highway and Drawdy Road.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down on Garris Hill Loop.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down at the 1000 Block of Beavers Pass Road.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down in the 5200 block of Augusta Highway.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down on Lodge Highway.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down near the intersection of Lodge Highway and U.S. Highway 21.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down on Highway 217 near the intersection with Beavers Pass Road.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-South Carolina Department of Transportation reported a tree down across Mill Pond Road near Mount Carmel Road.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-THe Colleton County 911 Call center reported a tree down near the intersection of Route 21 and Mount Caramel Road.
May 2008HailSmoaks-A trained weather spotter reported a few hailstones as large as 3 inches in diameter, although most of the hail that fell was about the size of a quarter.
May 2008HailSmoaks-A trained weather spotter reported golf ball size hail and estimated wind gusts of 40 to 45 mph.
July 2003Tornado (F1)Smoaks-Tornado touched down just south of Smoaks. Several trees were uprooted or snapped off. A mobile home suffered roof damage and the family's dog was killed. At least one car was crushed when a tree landed on it.
March 2001Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Several trees and large limbs down.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Roof damage at middle school.
August 1999Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Roof damage reported.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Trees and powerlines down.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindSmoaks-Trees and power line down
April 2006HailSmoaks-no account filed
May 2006HailSmoaks-no account filed
June 2006HailSmoaks-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Colleton 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.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Johnsville3.2 miles18
Padgetts4.0 miles18
Williams4.1 miles18
Smyly4.5 miles18
Colleton5.0 miles18
Caldwell5.8 miles18
Ruffin5.9 miles18
Springtown7.3 miles18

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 SmoaksAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q587494The 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 1231808. 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.

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.