Editing Thunderbolt, Georgia

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- Basic info  ---------------->
|official_name            = Thunderbolt, Georgia
|other_name               = 
|native_name              = <!-- for cities whose native name is not in English -->
|nickname                 = 
|settlement_type          = [[Town]]
|motto                    = <!-- images and maps  ----------->
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|imagesize                = 
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|image_seal               = Seal of Thunderbolt, Georgia.png
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|shield_size              = 
|image_blank_emblem       = 
|blank_emblem_type        = 
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|image_map                = Chatham_County_Georgia_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Thunderbolt_Highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location in [[Chatham County, Georgia|Chatham County]] and the state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
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|pushpin_mapsize          = <!-- Location ------------------>
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Georgia (U.S. state)|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Chatham County, Georgia|Chatham]]
|subdivision_type3        = 
|subdivision_name3        = 
|subdivision_type4        = 
|subdivision_name4        = <!-- Politics ----------------->
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|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|leader_title1            = <!-- for places with, say, both a mayor and a city manager -->
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|leader_title3            = 
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|established_title        = <!-- Settled -->
|established_date         = 
|established_title2       = <!-- Incorporated (town) -->
|established_date2        = 
|established_title3       = <!-- Incorporated (city) -->
|established_date3        = <!-- Area    --------------------->
|area_magnitude           = 
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_13.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=December 18, 2021}}</ref>
|area_total_km2           = 4.04
|area_land_km2            = 3.48
|area_water_km2           = 0.56
|area_total_sq_mi         = 1.56
|area_land_sq_mi          = 1.34
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.22
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|area_blank1_km2          = 
|area_blank1_sq_mi        = <!-- Population   ----------------------->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_note          = 
|population_total         = 2556
|population_density_km2   = 734.87
|population_density_sq_mi = 1903.20
|population_metro         = 
|population_density_metro_km2     = 
|population_density_metro_sq_mi   = 
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|timezone                 = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
|utc_offset               = -5
|timezone_DST             = EDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -4
|coordinates              = {{coord|32|1|56|N|81|3|6|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_m              = 
|elevation_ft             = 20
<!-- Area/postal codes & others -------->
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]s
|postal_code              = 31404, 31410
|area_code                = [[Area code 912|912]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 13-76364<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 0333226<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|333226}}</ref>
|website                  = {{URL|http://www.thunderboltga.org/}}
|footnotes                = 
|pop_est_as_of = 
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|population_est = 
}}
'''Thunderbolt''' is a town located in [[Chatham County, Georgia]], United States, approximately five miles southeast of downtown [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]].  As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], the town had a total population of 2,556. It is part of the Savannah [[Savannah metropolitan area|Metropolitan Statistical Area]]. Thunderbolt runs along the western shore of the [[Wilmington River (Georgia)|Wilmington River]] (a tidal river that is part of the U.S. [[Intracoastal Waterway]]). The town is important to Georgia's shrimping industry, with scores of docks for shrimping trawlers. The town's picturesque atmosphere and seafood restaurants draw many local visitors.

==History==
An early variant name was "Warsaw". The [[Georgia General Assembly]] incorporated the town as "Warsaw" in 1856.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/t.pdf| title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | author=Krakow, Kenneth K. | year=1975 | location=Macon, GA | pages=226 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref> Coincidentally, [[Casimir Pulaski]], who was born in [[Warsaw, Poland]], died in Thunderbolt. An act of legislature officially changed the town's name to "Thunderbolt" in 1921.<ref>{{cite book|title=Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AgZLAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1122|year=1921|page=1122}}</ref>

According to tradition, Thunderbolt was named from an incident when lightning strike caused a [[spring (hydrology)|spring]] to open up.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Candler|first1=Allen Daniel|last2=Evans|first2=Clement Anselm|title=Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons|url=https://archive.org/details/georgiacomprisi01unkngoog|year=1906|publisher=State historical association|page=[https://archive.org/details/georgiacomprisi01unkngoog/page/n431 443]}}</ref>

Fort Thunderbolt, colloquially referred to as the Thunderbolt Battery, was built to protect the city of Savannah from invading Union forces advancing from Whitemarsh Island.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mayle |first=Mary Carr |title=Portside: Saving a piece of Thunderbolt history |url=https://www.savannahnow.com/story/business/2016/08/26/portside-saving-piece-thunderbolt-history/13972542007/ |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=Savannah Morning News |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Geography==

Thunderbolt is located at 32°1'56" North, 81°3'6" West (32.032111, -81.051733).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of 1.5&nbsp;square miles (3.8&nbsp;km{{sup|2}}), of which 1.3&nbsp;square miles (3.3&nbsp;km{{sup|2}}) is land and 0.2&nbsp;square mile (0.5&nbsp;km{{sup|2}}) is water.

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1910= 543
|1920= 721
|1930= 802
|1940= 886
|1950= 1238
|1960= 1925
|1970= 2750
|1980= 2165
|1990= 2786
|2000= 2340
|2010= 2668
|2020= 2556
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Thunderbolt racial composition as of 2020<ref>{{Cite web|title=Explore Census Data|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=1600000US1376364&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|access-date=December 14, 2021|website=data.census.gov}}</ref>
!Race
!Num.
!Perc.
|-
|[[White (U.S. Census)|White]] (non-Hispanic)
|1,376
|53.83%
|-
|[[African American (U.S. Census)|Black or African American]] (non-Hispanic)
|639
|25.0%
|-
|[[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]]
|1
|0.04%
|-
|[[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]]
|81
|3.17%
|-
|[[Race (United States Census)|Other/Mixed]]
|115
|4.5%
|-
|[[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]]
|344
|13.46%
|}
As of the [[2020 United States census]], there were 2,556 people, 1,091 households, and 516 families residing in the town.

== See also ==
* [[Samuel Bowen]], who grew the first [[soya bean]]s introduced to North America in Thunderbolt.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Chatham County, Georgia}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in Chatham County, Georgia]]
[[Category:Towns in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Savannah metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Georgia (U.S. state)]]