West Union, South Carolina
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Walhalla census division. It lies in ZIP code area 29696. It stands on Little Cane Creek. The Survey maps it on the Walhalla quadrangle. 374 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 994 feet above sea level.
On record in West Union
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record
- J. R. Strother House, State Routes 28 & 11 (Old Georgian Road), West Unionfederal building survey, 5 photographs
Population over time
3 figuresWest Union grew from 297 to 374 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 297 | |
| 2010 | 291 | -6 (-2%) |
| 2020 | 374 | +83 (+29%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 20 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.
- 1886 USGS Walhalla quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Walhalla quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1896 USGS Walhalla quadrangle1:125000
- 1954 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Greenville quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Walhalla quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1981 USGS Toccoa quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Photographs
1 photograph,Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
141 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 141 fires within 5 miles of West Union between 1992 and 2020, burning about 310 acres in total. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 56 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 46 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 9 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Smoking | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 1.5 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 16 September 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 14 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 8 August 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 August 1999 | Natural | 20 acres | Francis Marion & Sumter National Forests | SAWMILL |
| 19 August 2002 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 13 August 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
| 31 July 1999 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1.0 acres | South Carolina Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of West Union: 2 past producers, 1 unknown, 1 producer, 1 occurrence. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Mica, Talc-Soapstone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Deposit | Mica | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Talc Prospect | Talc-Soapstone | Prospect | ||
| Oconee Quarry | Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | Metamorphic | |
| Oconee Rock Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Walhalla Quarry | Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | Metamorphic | |
| Walhalla Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
15 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Union in 15 storm reports between 2009 and 2025: 8 thunderstorm wind, 7 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Union | $10,000 | Public reported a barn destroyed at the intersection of Highway 183 and Country Junction Rd. |
| March 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Union | $10,000 | EM reported widespread trees blown down across northern Oconee County, with more than two dozen roads blocked. Several outbuildings were also damaged or destroyed, while at least one home received siding damage (near Big Brown Dr and Old Highway 11). |
| May 2025 | Hail | West Union | - | Spotter reports dime-to-nickel size hail at the intersection of Fowler Rd and Highway 11. |
| May 2025 | Hail | West Union | - | Emergency management shared video of quarter-to-half-dollar size hail on Keowee School Rd. |
| May 2025 | Hail | West Union | - | Public reported quarter size hail In West Union. |
| June 2022 | Hail | West Union | - | Public observed 3/4 inch hail along Buffalo Rd. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Union | - | County comms reported numerous trees and power lines blown down between Walhalla and Salem. |
| April 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Union | - | Public reported multiple large trees blown down in the West Union community. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Union | - | Media reported multiple trees blown down on W Union Rd. |
| May 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Union | - | County comms reported a few trees blown down southeast of Walhalla. |
| June 2015 | Hail | West Union | - | Public reported up to 3/4 inch hail at a golf course off Lecroy Rd. Emergency management official reported 3/4 inch hail in West Union. |
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Union | - | Two large trees were broken off and a third uprooted in the West Union community. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Union | - | Multiple trees and power lines were blown down east of Walhalla. |
| June 2009 | Hail | West Union | - | Hail was reported near the intersection of Fowler Rd and highway 11. |
| May 2011 | Hail | West Union | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch Fork | 0.3 miles | 20 | |
| Colonial Heights | 0.9 miles | 20 | |
| Burns Mill | 0.9 miles | 20 | |
| Crystal Falls | 1.0 miles | 20 | |
| Springdale | 1.1 miles | 20 | |
| Walhalla | 1.2 miles | 20 | |
| Eastcliff | 1.5 miles | 20 | |
| Oakmont | 1.5 miles | 20 |
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 West Union | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2160493 | 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 1231908. 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.






