| Dale | |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Pushpin Map: | SouthCarolina#USA |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | South Carolina |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Beaufort |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 6.14 |
| Area Land Km2: | 6.14 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.00 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 2.37 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 2.37 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.00 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 633 |
| Population Density Km2: | 103.04 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 266.86 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP Code |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 45-18340 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
Dale, South Carolina, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in northern Beaufort County in the southern corner of the state of South Carolina, U.S.A. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 633.[2]
It is located approximately five miles north of Beaufort, South Carolina on U.S. Route 21, designated the Trask Parkway in that area. The zip code for Dale, South Carolina, is 29914 and it is the hometown of NFL (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) DB Dee Delaney.[3]
Dale was formerly on the alignment of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad's Carolina Division low-level main line, constructed from 1915 and opened December 31, 1917. This rail route passed to the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad with the July 1, 1967 merger of the SAL and longtime rival Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, becoming the Charleston Subdivision, and the line downgraded with most traffic rerouting over the former ACL alignment to the west. The "East Carolina Subdivision", as it was colloquially called, was abandoned by stages, with the first portion removed north of Dale, between Lobeco and Charleston, after October 1, 1967. Following the April 21, 1971 destruction of the old SAL lift bridge over the Savannah River by a ship in foggy conditions, the southern connection into Savannah was cut and the rail line removed between Coosaw and Pritchardville, south of Dale, in 1978. Most of the remaining line was lifted in 1982. Portions of the alignment have been converted into the New River Linear Trail hiking trail.[4]
On Friday December 13, 1935, Major Arthur K. Ladd, assigned as the assistant supply officer for the General Headquarters Air Force, Langley Field, Virginia, was piloting Boeing P-12F, 32-100, c/n 1676,[5] [6] '60', the 24th of 25 of the model built, of the 36th Pursuit Squadron, from Langley Field to Miami, Florida,[7] and was killed, at ~1400 hrs. EST, when the biplane fighter crashed into a swamp near the Wimbee River on Heyward Island, ~3 miles E of Dale, South Carolina. A front-page news item in The State, Columbia, South Carolina, the next day, observed that the plane's two machine guns were badly broken.[8] Fairbanks Air Base, Fairbanks, Alaska, under construction since August 1939 after the United States Congress appropriated $4 million to build a cold-weather testing base, was renamed Ladd Army Airfield on December 1, 1939, in Major Ladd's honor.[9] [10]
| White alone (NH) | 100 | 15.80% | |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 491 | 77.57% | |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 2 | 0.32% | |
| Asian alone (NH) | 1 | 0.16% | |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 0 | 0.00% | |
| Some Other Race alone (NH) | 5 | 0.79% | |
| Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH) | 16 | 2.53% | |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 18 | 2.84% | |
| Total | 633 | 100.00% |