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East Gaffney, South Carolina

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1909 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Gaffney census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29340. The Survey maps it on the Gaffney quadrangle. 2,882 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 771 feet above sea level.

East Gaffney within Cherokee County

On record in East Gaffney

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 4 records

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Population over time

2 figures

East Gaffney fell from 3,085 to 2,882 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
20103,085
20202,882-203 (-7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 16 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

247 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 247 fires within 5 miles of East Gaffney between 1992 and 2020, burning about 797 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 14 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/undetermined140
Debris and open burning38
Misuse of fire by a minor18
Equipment and vehicle use17
Arson/incendiarism14
Smoking6
Railroad operations and maintenance5
Recreation and ceremony4
Natural3
Other causes1
Fireworks1

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 1992Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 2009Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 2009Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 2009Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 2007Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 1998Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cherokee County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 78 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 78 workings within 5 miles of East Gaffney: 68 unknowns, 5 past producers, 4 producers, 1 prospect. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Gold, Clay, Thorium, REE. 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
Cameron MineSilver, Lead, Copper, Sulfur, IronUnknown1861
Cameron MineSilver, Lead, CopperUnknown1850
Draytonville QuarryStone, DimensionUnknownMetamorphosed Beds
Mt. Ararat Church ProspectBarium-BaritePast ProducerBarite Vein
Northern Trib Cherokee Creek Monazite PlacerThorium, REE, Corundum, Gold, TinUnknown1910, 1911
Sullivan-Ballinger FarmsManganeseProspect
Thicketty Creek Monazite Placer Eastern TributaryThorium, REE, Tin, Corundum, GoldUnknown1910, 1911
Unnamed Garnet Occurrence Gl-102GarnetUnknownStratabound
Unnamed Mica Prospect Gl - 052MicaUnknown1931
Upper Cole Creek Monazite PlacerThorium, REE, Gold, Corundum, TinUnknown1910, 1911

Every working recorded in Cherokee County

Storms near this place

4 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names East Gaffney in 4 storm reports between 2009 and 2025: 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. 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
June 2025Thunderstorm WindEast Gaffney-Emergency manager reported a few trees and powerlines blown down between East Gaffney and Cherokee Falls.
May 2010HailEast Gaffney-Penny size hail was reported on I-85 at the Broad River bridge.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindEast Gaffney-Multiple trees were from down from the intersection of Grubb St and 13th St, to the intersection of Peoples Creek Rd and Draytonville Rd. One tree fell on a car on Peoples Creek Rd. Trees were also blown down on Ford Rd about 4 miles east of Gaffney.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindEast Gaffney-A couple of trees were blown down at Teague St and highway 29.

Every storm recorded in Cherokee 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
Stuart Heights0.8 miles16
Arrowood0.9 miles16
Crestmont1.0 miles15
Connecticut Park1.0 miles16
Gaffney1.1 miles16
Rosehill Park1.1 miles16
Dogwood Springs Park1.1 miles16
Hillbrook1.2 miles15

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 East GaffneyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2434640The 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 1231253. 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.