Bowman

History

Interest in building a town at the intersection of present-day US 178 (Charleston Highway) and S.C. 210 (Branchville-Providence Roads) was evidenced in the acquisition of substantial properties of the Reddick A. Bowman estate by one Samuel W. Dibble, Sr. of Orangeburg, SC in 1887. The Smoak Tramway, a six-mile logging railroad extending from Branchville toward north Four Holes Swamp which was chartered in 1884, was also targeted for acquisition by Dibble's associate, Thomas M. Raysor, who operated the Raysor Mill near Stokes. These actions, aimed at developing and exploiting the agricultural and lumbering potential of an area that had remained rather dormant since the American Civil War, were taking place in the late 1880s. These represented the prelude to the chartering of the future Town of Bowman and the transportation and land development organizations and operations which preceded its chartering. The site chosen for Bowman was actually situated in the center of a rice farming country, later transformed into a major cotton-producing area where the land has a clay sub-soil, ideal for this and other crops. it was located on an old road that was traveled in colonial days by people going from Charleston to Orangeburg, and which was once alleged to have been known as Oak Ridge, a plateau about ten miles long and five miles wide. One of the oldest remaining operating companies located in Bowman, South Carolina, is V.P. Kiser Lumber Company, which now produces pine shingles. Some wood from Kiser Lumber Company was used to build Bowman's UFO Welcome Center.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.

Most-observed species

• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,032
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  869
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  860
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  830
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  799
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  722
• Eastern Bluebird

  Sialia sialis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  568
• Barn Swallow

  Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  540

Most recent

• M 3 — 2026-02-26
  5 km WSW of Irmo, South Carolina
• M 2.84 — 2026-02-13
  4 km WSW of Irmo, South Carolina
• M 2.91 — 2026-02-08
  6 km SW of Ladson, South Carolina
• M 2.72 — 2026-01-20
  5 km ESE of Elgin, South Carolina
• M 2.57 — 2025-04-26
  6 km E of Elgin, South Carolina
• M 2.5 — 2024-09-15
  6 km E of Elgin, South Carolina