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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Thunderbolt ...

The town of Thunderbolt is located in Chatham County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Thunderbolt, you might consider that their post office opened in 1892.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Thunderbolt has a population of 2,630 people<2> (see below for details).

Thunderbolt is near sea level<3>.

Time Zone: Thunderbolt lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Thunderbolt: 912 & 565<4>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Thunderbolt had an population of 2,630 people. This is a decrease of 1.42% since the 2010 Census.

At the time of the 2010 Census, Thunderbolt had a population of 2,668 people. This makes Thunderbolt the county's 7th most populous community.

The population of Thunderbolt represents 0.03% of the total population of Georgia (which has 9,687,653 people), making it the state's 196th most populous community.

More information can be found on the Census Page for Thunderbolt.

Communities near Thunderbolt ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Thunderbolt.

  • Bluffton
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Bluffton is located in Beaufort County (SC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,230 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bluffton <5>
  • Pooler
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Richmond Hill
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Port Wentworth
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Port Wentworth Junction
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Port Wentworth Junction is located in Chatham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Wentworth Junction
    • Estimated population in 2019: 9,641 people
  • Garden City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Hardeeville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Rossignol Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Rossignol Hill is located in Chatham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rossignol Hill
    • Estimated population in 2019: 4,009 people
  • Bloomingdale
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Tybee Island
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Thunderbolt. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Thunderbolt.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Thunderbolt. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Thunderbolt.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Thunderbolt. See our Newspapers Page for Thunderbolt.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Thunderbolt ...

Looking for more information about Thunderbolt? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Thunderbolt, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Thunderbolt.

Adding Thunderbolt to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Thunderbolt in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Thunderbolt was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Thunderbolt post office opened in 1892. The Thunderbolt post office closed in 1954.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Thunderbolt.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Georgia's counties, including Chatham, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Thunderbolt.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Thunderbolt - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 912 code has been Overlayed with the 565 area code. New phone numbers in the Thunderbolt area will be assigned with one of these codes: 912 or 565. As a result, placing a call in the Thunderbolt area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/