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Waterloo, South Carolina

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1979. It stands in the Cross Hill census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29384. The Survey maps it on the Waterloo quadrangle. 149 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 610 feet above sea level.

Waterloo within Laurens County

Population over time

3 figures

Waterloo fell from 203 to 149 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.

YearPeople Change
2000203
2010166-37 (-18%)
2020149-17 (-10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 13 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

132 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 132 fires within 5 miles of Waterloo between 1992 and 2020, burning about 888 acres in total. 6 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/undetermined64
Debris and open burning28
Arson/incendiarism16
Smoking7
Natural6
Equipment and vehicle use4
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
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
30 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
21 September 2019Debris and open burning7.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
2 September 1998Natural40 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
19 September 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
16 September 2019Debris and open burning11 acresSouth Carolina Forestry CommissionNANALOO FIRE
13 September 2019Naturalunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
12 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
11 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined112 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Laurens County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Waterloo: 3 past producers, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Mica, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Granite. 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
Bailey MineMicaPast Producer
Cold Point Granite Company QuarryStone, Crushed/Broken, GranitePast Producer1910
Raeburn Creek ProspectGoldPast ProducerVein
Raeburn Creek ProspectGoldProspect

Every working recorded in Laurens County

Storms near this place

36 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Waterloo in 36 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 26 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 2 tornado, 2 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
April 1998Tornado (F0)Waterloo$70,000no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindWaterloo$25,000no account filed
December 2024Thunderstorm WindWaterloo$10,000Emergency manager reported multiple trees blown down along with damage to some roofs and a porch near the shore of Lake Greenwood.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindWaterloo$5,000Public reported a home along Lake Greenwood in the Waterloo area sustained damage to siding, thrown patio furniture, and a bent flag pole. Multiple tree limbs were also blown down.
July 2003Tornado (F0)Waterloo$1,000This weak tornado blew down numerous large tree limbs as well as a few large trees as it tracked from just east of Lake Greenwood to the town of Waterloo. Some crops were damaged near Waterloo.
January 2023Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-County comms reported numerous trees and power lines blown down across Laurens County.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-Highway patrol reported a tree blown down along Neely Ferry Rd and another tree down on Coggins Dairy Rd.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-County comms reported trees blown down in the Waterloo area.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-County comms reported many trees and power lines blown down in association with a second storm cluster across the southern part of Laurens County.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-A few trees were blown down, including one large tree, near Waterloo. Also, the roof of a porch was lifted from a home near Lake Greenwood.
July 2013Flash FloodWaterloo-Todd Quarter Road was losed due to flooding at the bridge over Long Lick Branch.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-Several trees were knocked down between Waterloo and Laurens. Some trees were knocked down by strong winds, though most of them likely fell more a result of torrential rain and saturated soil. A tree fell on a home near Laurens.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-A few trees were blown down in the Waterloo area.
February 2011Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-A tree was blown down on Todd Quarter Rd at Cressy Bridge Rd and another on Dillard Rd near highway 221.
March 2011HailWaterloo-Hail up to the size of pennies covered the ground up to 2 inches deep.
March 2011Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-Numerous trees were blown down from the Waterloo area to Cross Hill. A car port was also lifted and tossed 4 S Cross Hill.
March 2010Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-A tree was blown down on Riverfork Rd and another on Cannon Rd about 4 miles west southwest of Waterloo.
March 2008Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-Trees blown down in Waterloo and Cross Hill.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-Trees blown down at the intersection of highway 221 and SSR 54.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-Several trees down west of Waterloo near the Greenwood line.
September 2006Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-Trees blown down.
April 2005Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-Trees down and non-specific large hail.
July 2005Flash FloodWaterloo-Water covered a bridge.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-Numerous trees down on roads, including Medical Bridge Rd, Torrington Rd, River Fork Rd, and highway 221.
November 2004Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-A tree and some large limbs blown down along highway 221.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-Trees were blown down.
September 2000Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-Several trees were blown down on Skippers Lodge Road and along Hwy 72.
April 2006HailWaterloo-no account filed
May 2006HailWaterloo-no account filed
May 2006Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-no account filed
April 2005Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-no account filed
June 2004HailWaterloo-no account filed
July 2002HailWaterloo-no account filed
June 1999HailWaterloo-no account filed
June 1999Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-no account filed
April 1997Thunderstorm WindWaterloo-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Laurens 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
Harris Springs2.2 miles13
Isle of Pines2.6 miles13
Collins Lakeside Village3.9 miles13
Cold Point4.9 miles13
Mountville4.9 miles12
Baldwin5.1 miles13
Cross Hill5.2 miles12
Mount Olive5.4 miles13

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 WaterlooAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2648915The 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 1231896. 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.