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Coward, South Carolina

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1946 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Coward census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29530. The Survey maps it on the Scranton quadrangle. 748 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 75 feet above sea level.

Coward within Florence County

Population over time

2 figures

Coward fell from 752 to 748 between 2010 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
2010752
2020748-4 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 8 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

515 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 515 fires within 5 miles of Coward between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,378 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 203 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
Arson/incendiarism203
Missing data/not specified/undetermined134
Debris and open burning128
Equipment and vehicle use27
Misuse of fire by a minor10
Natural6
Other causes2
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Recreation and ceremony1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
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
9 September 1997Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1997Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 2001Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2019Debris and open burning2.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2007Debris and open burning5.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Florence County

Storms near this place

15 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Coward in 15 storm reports between 1998 and 2024: 6 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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
August 2006Thunderstorm WindCoward1 hurt, $50,000A mobile home, anchored to a concrete foundation, was flipped over on Cockfield Rd. The resident was taken to the hospital with a contusion to the head, as well as cuts and bruises and an injured arm. A nearby tree was splintered and pushed over.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindCoward$15,000A National Weather Service Storm Survey Team concluded straight-line winds to 65 mph damaged the porch of a mobile home. Minor shingle damage to a few roofs was observed. A 10 inch ornamental tree was snapped and numerous large tree limbs were down. The damage occurred on East Friendfield Road, just east of Highway 52. The time was estimated based on radar data.
July 2007Tornado (EF1)Coward$10,000National Weather Service Storm Survey concluded an EF1 Tornado with winds around 100 mph caused spotty damage along a path 1500 yards long and 30 yards wide between Old Number 4 Highway and McAllister Mill Road. Softwood trees were snapped. Chicken and animal pens were damaged and one hen died. One heavy shed was tossed. Tree debris caused minor roof and siding damage to three mobile homes. One brick home had a window blown out and sustained minor roof damage.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindCoward$9,500Several trees were reported down including one which fell onto a house on East Friendfield Road. An old tobacco barn and metal shed were damaged near the intersection of McGee Road and Azalea Road. The time was estimated based on radar data.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindCoward$8,500A National Weather Service Storm Survey Team concluded straight-line winds to 65 mph destroyed a metal carport on Union School Road and blew it 75 yards downwind. A wooden fence was also destroyed and some siding was blown off a house on Union School Road. A large tree fell onto Shiloh Church of God on East Friendfield Road. The time was estimated based on radar data.
September 1999HailCoward$2,000South Lynches FD reported nickel size hail and a couple of trees downed.
August 2024Flash FloodCoward$1,000Flood waters have been barricaded off along Factory Road in Coward.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindCoward$1,000A tree was reportedly down on Salem Road.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindCoward$1,000A tree was reported in roadway near the intersection of Lynch Road and U.S. 52.
April 2012HailCoward$1,000Hail to the size of quarters was reported.
July 2013FloodCoward-Flooding was reported on Factory Street.
May 2009HailCoward-Hail up to the size of nickels was reported. Report was relayed through the 911 Center.
May 2006HailCoward-Quarter size hail covered the ground.
August 1999HailCoward-Coward PD reported heavy rain and lots of thunder with the hail.
June 1998HailCoward-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Florence 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
New Hope3.1 miles10
Salem3.2 miles8
Scranton3.8 miles8
Friendfield4.0 miles8
Lynches Mill5.0 miles10
Elim5.8 miles10
Johnson Crossroads5.8 miles10
Camp Branch5.8 miles8

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 CowardAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2404914The 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 1247407. 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.

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.