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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.

Govan within Bamberg County

Population over time

2 figures

Govan 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.

YearPeople Change
201065
202056-9 (-14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 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

141 since 1992

Regional 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/undetermined50
Debris and open burning47
Equipment and vehicle use18
Arson/incendiarism15
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Smoking3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Natural2

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
26 September 2010Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
26 September 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined12 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2010Debris and open burning5.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2007Debris and open burning2.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2007Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
24 September 2010Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
16 September 1999Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
13 September 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.6 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Bamberg County

Storms near this place

9 since 1998

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2011Thunderstorm WindGovan$8,000Bamberg Dispatch reported several trees and powerlines down near Hwy 321 in the town of Govan.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindGovan$5,000Sheriff reported trees down in Earhardt and on Thunder Road.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindGovan-Social media images showing damage to chicken barns along Juniper Creek Rd off of Ehrhardt Rd west of Govan. Time estimated from radar.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindGovan-Reported trees down near the intersection of Thunder Road and Ehrhardt Road near the town of Govan.
September 2024Flash FloodGovan-SCDOT closed Middle Place Rd near Govan Rd due to flooding.
June 2016HailGovan-Public reported quarter size hail in the town of Govan. The report was received through Social Media.
April 2011HailGovan-Sheriff reported dime size hail.
May 2008Tornado (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 1998Tornado (F0)Govan-The Olar tornado had a second touchdown east of Govan near highway 301 and the Little Salkehatchie River taking down several trees.

Every storm recorded in Bamberg 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
Olar2.9 miles16
Luther (historical)3.7 miles15
Springtown4.0 miles15
Garris (historical)4.7 miles15
Schofield6.3 miles16
Denmark7.1 miles15
Sato7.3 miles15
Bufords Bridge7.4 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 GovanAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1981628The 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.