Govan, South Carolina
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1919 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Olar census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29843. The Survey maps it on the Olar quadrangle. 56 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 240 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresGovan fell from 65 to 56 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 65 | |
| 2020 | 56 | -9 (-14%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 16 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1919 USGS Olar quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1943 USGS Olar quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Augusta quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Augusta quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Augusta quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Augusta quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Augusta quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Barnwell quadrangle1:100000
- 1982 USGS Olar quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
141 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 141 fires within 5 miles of Govan between 1992 and 2020, burning about 562 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 15 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/undetermined | 50 |
| Debris and open burning | 47 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 18 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 15 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 26 September 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 September 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 24 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 16 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 13 September 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.6 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
9 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Govan in 9 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 2 hail, 1 flash flood. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Govan | $8,000 | Bamberg Dispatch reported several trees and powerlines down near Hwy 321 in the town of Govan. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Govan | $5,000 | Sheriff reported trees down in Earhardt and on Thunder Road. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Govan | - | Social media images showing damage to chicken barns along Juniper Creek Rd off of Ehrhardt Rd west of Govan. Time estimated from radar. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Govan | - | Reported trees down near the intersection of Thunder Road and Ehrhardt Road near the town of Govan. |
| September 2024 | Flash Flood | Govan | - | SCDOT closed Middle Place Rd near Govan Rd due to flooding. |
| June 2016 | Hail | Govan | - | Public reported quarter size hail in the town of Govan. The report was received through Social Media. |
| April 2011 | Hail | Govan | - | Sheriff reported dime size hail. |
| May 2008 | Tornado (EF1) | Govan | - | Sheriff reported a tornado and NWS storm survey confirmed a touchdown along a path from just north of Olar to just northeast of Ehrhardt. Numerous trees were down along with some powerlines. Moderate damage occurred to 3 homes and 2 mobile homes. One out building was destroyed. Golfball to tennis ball size hail also accompanied this storm stripping trees of leaves and pine needles and flattening crops. |
| March 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Govan | - | The Olar tornado had a second touchdown east of Govan near highway 301 and the Little Salkehatchie River taking down several trees. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olar | 2.9 miles | 16 | |
| Luther (historical) | 3.7 miles | 15 | |
| Springtown | 4.0 miles | 15 | |
| Garris (historical) | 4.7 miles | 15 | |
| Schofield | 6.3 miles | 16 | |
| Denmark | 7.1 miles | 15 | |
| Sato | 7.3 miles | 15 | |
| Bufords Bridge | 7.4 miles | 15 |
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 Govan | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1981628 | The 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 1222786. 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.








