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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.

West Union within Oconee County

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

Population over time

3 figures

West 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.

YearPeople Change
2000297
2010291-6 (-2%)
2020374+83 (+29%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 20 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.

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.

J. R. Strother House, State Routes 28 & 11 (Old Georgian Road), West Union, Oconee County, SC
J. R. Strother House, State Routes 28 & 11 (Old Georgian Road), West Union, Oconee County, SC
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

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 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 burning56
Missing data/not specified/undetermined46
Arson/incendiarism9
Equipment and vehicle use9
Recreation and ceremony6
Smoking5
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Other causes2
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
27 September 2019Debris and open burning1.5 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
16 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
14 September 1999Debris and open burning5.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
8 August 2011Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
21 August 1999Natural20 acresFrancis Marion & Sumter National ForestsSAWMILL
19 August 2002Debris and open burning2.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
13 August 2002Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named
31 July 1999Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresSouth Carolina Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Oconee County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Keith DepositMicaOccurrence
Unnamed Talc ProspectTalc-SoapstoneProspect
Oconee QuarryGranite, Stone, Crushed/BrokenPast ProducerMetamorphic
Oconee Rock QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Walhalla QuarryGranite, Stone, Crushed/BrokenUnknownMetamorphic
Walhalla QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Oconee County

Storms near this place

15 since 2009

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2022Thunderstorm WindWest Union$10,000Public reported a barn destroyed at the intersection of Highway 183 and Country Junction Rd.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindWest Union$10,000EM 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 2025HailWest Union-Spotter reports dime-to-nickel size hail at the intersection of Fowler Rd and Highway 11.
May 2025HailWest Union-Emergency management shared video of quarter-to-half-dollar size hail on Keowee School Rd.
May 2025HailWest Union-Public reported quarter size hail In West Union.
June 2022HailWest Union-Public observed 3/4 inch hail along Buffalo Rd.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindWest Union-County comms reported numerous trees and power lines blown down between Walhalla and Salem.
April 2017Thunderstorm WindWest Union-Public reported multiple large trees blown down in the West Union community.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindWest Union-Media reported multiple trees blown down on W Union Rd.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindWest Union-County comms reported a few trees blown down southeast of Walhalla.
June 2015HailWest 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 2013Thunderstorm WindWest Union-Two large trees were broken off and a third uprooted in the West Union community.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindWest Union-Multiple trees and power lines were blown down east of Walhalla.
June 2009HailWest Union-Hail was reported near the intersection of Fowler Rd and highway 11.
May 2011HailWest Union-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Oconee 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
Dutch Fork0.3 miles20
Colonial Heights0.9 miles20
Burns Mill0.9 miles20
Crystal Falls1.0 miles20
Springdale1.1 miles20
Walhalla1.2 miles20
Eastcliff1.5 miles20
Oakmont1.5 miles20

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 UnionAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2160493The 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.