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La France, South Carolina

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Pendleton census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29670. It stands on Town Creek. The Survey maps it on the La France quadrangle. 476 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 761 feet above sea level.

La France within Anderson County

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 17 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

74 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 74 fires within 5 miles of La France between 1992 and 2020, burning about 218 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 9 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/undetermined23
Debris and open burning22
Arson/incendiarism9
Misuse of fire by a minor7
Smoking4
Recreation and ceremony3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Natural1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Other causes1

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
30 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2007Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
8 August 1999Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
16 August 2011Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
15 August 2016Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
6 July 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
16 July 1999Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
15 July 2008Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Anderson County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of La France: 1 prospect, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Mica. 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
Mcmurtley DepositMicaOccurrence
Pickens ProspectGoldProspect

Every working recorded in Anderson County

Storms near this place

7 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names La France in 7 storm reports between 2009 and 2026: 2 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 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
April 2010Tornado (EF1)La France$100,000A tornado damage path began in the Harper Rd area of Pendleton. A large detached garage had its windward-facing doors blown in. This caused a large cargo door on the back side of the garage to blow out. Several horse stables on Harper Rd had metal roofs partially peeled back or blown off. Numerous trees were snapped off in this area, with a few large trees uprooted. The tornado continued northeast to Liberty Highway, just south of the Cherry St extension. The metal roofing was partially torn off a barn at this location, and several outbuildings were damaged or blown away. A large, well-constructed home received minor eaves damage. The tornado turned in a more east northeasterly direction at this point, dissipating shortly after crossing Liberty Highway.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindLa France$75,000Multiple sources reported numerous trees blown down across northeast Anderson County from Six and Twenty Rd across I-85 to Hopewell Rd and Midway Rd. Multiple trees fell on houses. Additionally, the public reported a barn was destroyed and the debris tossed into an adjacent field on Furman Gambrell Rd.
July 2023LightningLa France$50,000County comms reported lightning struck a house, causing a structure fire.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindLa France-Utility company reported trees blown down on power lines and causing outages along highway 178 and in the northlakes area.
August 2021Tornado (EF0)La France-NWS storm survey confirmed a brief tornado touchdown at a home on Lebanon Rd. Multiple trees were uprooted at this location.
July 2013Flash FloodLa France-Portions of Shackleburg Road were covered by water, especially around Jones Creek.
April 2009HailLa France-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Anderson 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
Sandy Springs1.4 miles17
Woodhaven2.2 miles19
Pendleton Gardens2.3 miles19
New Light2.5 miles17
Pine Acres2.7 miles17
Pendleton2.9 miles19
Denver2.9 miles17
Welcome3.2 miles17

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 La FranceAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q14709529The 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 1246273. 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.