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Tamassee, South Carolina

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Salem census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29686. It stands on Reece Branch. The Survey maps it on the Tamassee quadrangle. 60 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,073 feet above sea level.

Tamassee within Oconee County

On record in Tamassee

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 1 record

Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 19 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.

Photographs

1 photograph,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Tamassee, Tamassee, Oconee County, SC
Tamassee, Tamassee, Oconee County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

88 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 88 fires within 5 miles of Tamassee between 1992 and 2020, burning about 297 acres in total. 7 started naturally. 7 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/undetermined34
Debris and open burning30
Arson/incendiarism7
Natural7
Equipment and vehicle use5
Recreation and ceremony2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Smoking1

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 2002Debris and open burning8.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1998Natural5.0 acresFrancis Marion & Sumter National ForestsDODGE MOUNTAIN
5 August 2008Natural1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
22 August 2011Debris and open burning2.5 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
17 August 2008Naturalunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
4 July 2002Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreFrancis Marion & Sumter National ForestsWINDING STAIRS
3 July 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
22 July 2000Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Oconee County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Tamassee: 3 past producers, 2 prospects, 1 unknown, 1 plant. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Marble, Dimension, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Marble ProspectMarble, DimensionProspect
Unnamed Clay ProspectClayProspect
(Facility) Unnamed Silver Smelter SiteSilverPlant
Unnamed Silver MineSilverPast Producer
Jesse Lay MineGoldUnknownVein
Jesse Lay MineGoldPast Producer
Kuhtman MineGoldPast Producer

Every working recorded in Oconee County

Storms near this place

29 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tamassee in 29 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 15 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 2 tornado. 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
June 2017Thunderstorm WindTamassee$5,000County reported numerous trees blown down, along with non-specific roof damage to a home on Jumping Branch Road.
July 2025HailTamassee-Spotter reported quarter size hail.
May 2024HailTamassee-Spotter reported quarter size hail near Flat Shoals Rd and Oconee Court Rd.
May 2024HailTamassee-A CoCoRaHS observer reported nickel size hail on N Little River Rd.
September 2024HailTamassee-Ham radio operator reported quarter size hail along North Little River Rd.
March 2023Thunderstorm WindTamassee-County comms reported a few trees blown down on Bumgardner Dr near Highway 11.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindTamassee-County comms reported numerous trees and power lines blown down across Oconee County.
June 2022HailTamassee-Ham radio operator reported along North Little River Rd.
March 2018Thunderstorm WindTamassee-County comms reported a tree blown down on a power line along Bethel Church Rd. Public reported (via Social Media) at least one additional tree down along with power lines in the Salem area.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindTamassee-County comms reported scattered trees blown down in the Salem area.
June 2018HailTamassee-Ham radio operator reported penny size hail on North Little River Rd.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindTamassee-County comms reported trees blown down near the intersection of Flat Shoals Rd and Horseshoe Lane.
March 2017HailTamassee-County comms reported quarter sized hail at Oconee Station State Historic Site.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindTamassee-Public reported multiple trees blown down in the area around Lecroy Rd and Falcons Dr.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindTamassee-Numerous trees blown down just west of the Tamassee community.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindTamassee-Trees and power lines were blown down about 5 miles southwest of Salem.
June 2011HailTamassee-Quarter size hail fell along Falcons Nest Rd.
May 2011HailTamassee-Public reported very large hail ranging from 2-inches in diameter to baseball size in the|Mountain Rest area, including along Whetstone Rd.
October 2010Tornado (EF0)Tamassee-A short tornado damage path was surveyed near the Falcon's Lair area north of Walhalla. Several trees were snapped or uprooted and one residence sustained minor damage.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindTamassee-Trees were blown down along highway 11 west of Salem. Another tree was blown down on Whitewater Point Rd. The public reported seeing funnel clouds in this area, but no evidence of a tornado was found.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindTamassee-Numerous trees were blown down and shingles blown from roofs near Tamassee.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindTamassee-Trees were blown down at highway 11 and Oconee Station Rd.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindTamassee-Several trees were blown down along Little River Rd.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindTamassee-Large tree branches down.
April 2003HailTamassee-no account filed
June 2000Tornado (F0)Tamassee-no account filed
January 1998HailTamassee-no account filed
April 1998Thunderstorm WindTamassee-no account filed
June 1998HailTamassee-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.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Flat Shoals1.6 miles20
Camp Oak1.7 miles20
Cheohee2.1 miles19
Salem2.4 miles19
Picket Post3.9 miles20
Moody Cove4.5 miles19
Boones Creek4.6 miles19
Forest Acres5.3 miles20

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 TamasseeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7680946The 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 1251114. 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.