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Union, South Carolina
Official seal of Union, South Carolina
Seal
Location of Union, South Carolina
Location of Union, South Carolina
Country United States
State South Carolina
County Union
Area
 • Total 7.98 sq mi (20.67 km2)
 • Land 7.98 sq mi (20.67 km2)
 • Water 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation
643 ft (196 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 8,174
 • Density 1,024.44/sq mi (395.54/km2)
Time zone UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP code
29379
Area code(s) 864
FIPS code 45-73105
GNIS feature ID 1251248
Website www.cityofunion.net

The city of Union is the county seat of Union County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,393 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Union Micropolitan Statistical Area (population 28,961 according to 2010 Census), which includes all of Union County and which is further included in the greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina Combined Statistical Area (population 1,266,995 according to the 2010 Census).

History

Both the city of Union and Union County received their names from the old Union Church that stood a short distance from the Monarch Mill. When it was first founded, the city of Union was known as Unionville; later the name was shortened to Union. The county's first white settlers came from Virginia in 1749. Union County's population grew the fastest between 1762 and the start of the Revolutionary War. Settlers built log cabins and cultivated tobacco, flax, corn and wheat. Union was one of the first towns settled in the area and was untouched during the Civil War because the Broad River flooded and turned Sherman’s troops away from the town.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.0 square miles (21 km2), all of it land.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1850 554
1880 1,267
1890 1,609 27.0%
1900 5,400 235.6%
1910 5,623 4.1%
1920 6,141 9.2%
1930 7,419 20.8%
1940 8,478 14.3%
1950 9,730 14.8%
1960 10,191 4.7%
1970 10,775 5.7%
1980 10,523 −2.3%
1990 9,836 −6.5%
2000 8,793 −10.6%
2010 8,393 −4.5%
2020 8,174 −2.6%
U.S. Decennial Census
2013 Estimate

Union first appeared in the 1850 U.S. Census as "Unionville", with a recorded total population of 554.

2020 census

Union Racial Composition
Race Num. Perc.
White (non-Hispanic) 3,660 44.78%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 4,023 49.22%
Native American 10 0.12%
Asian 34 0.42%
Other/Mixed 306 3.74%
Hispanic or Latino 141 1.72%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 8,174 people, 3,452 households, and 2,063 families residing in the city.

Arts and Culture

Central Graded School
Central Graded School

Sites in Union listed on the National Register of Historic Places webpage for Union County include:

  • Cedar Bluff
  • Central Graded School
  • Corinth Baptist Church
  • Culp House
  • Judge Thomas Dawkins House
  • East Main Street-Douglass Heights Historic District
  • Episcopal Church of the Nativity
  • Fair Forest Hotel
  • Herndon Terrace
  • Gov. Thomas B. Jeter House
  • Meng House
  • Merridun
  • South Street-South Church Street Historic District
  • Union Community Hospital
  • Union County Jail
  • Union Downtown Historic District
  • Union High School-Main Street Grammar School
  • Nathaniel Gist House

Education

Union County Schools operates public schools.

For some time, the county had three high schools, Union Comprehensive High, Jonesville High, and Lockhart High. As of a council ruling, the three high schools have been consolidated. Jonesville High School and Lockhart High School were closed, and the students were reassigned to Union High School, which has been renamed Union County High School.

The city is also home to the University of South Carolina Union (USC Union), a satellite campus of the University of South Carolina. USC Union was founded in 1965 and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Union has a public library, the Union County Carnegie Library. This Carnegie library provides services and resources for both the community and USC Union students. It was named 2009's Best Small Library in America by Library Journal.

Notable people

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Union (Carolina del Sur) para niños

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