According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.06 square miles (2.74 km2), all land.

[9] White Pond[11] is a local landmark in Elgin, consisting of a Sandhills dune formation and 66 acre natural lake.

[12] It is located on the western edge of the Atlantic Plain, and is host to flora typical of inland sand dunes such as the longleaf pine, British Soldier's Lichen and the toxic flowering twine Gelsemium sempervirens.

[15][3][16][17] One dune on the south side of White Pond has yielded a luminescence date of ~92,300 years before present (BP).

[18] Platinum anomalies[19] have recently been reported at the site at an age that would provide potential evidence for the controversial Younger Dryas impact hypothesis.

[21] There is a log cabin on the site, which hosts a local private fishing & game club, and the lake is regularly stocked with trout.

In 2017, excavations at White Pond revealed the presence of several layers of archaeological interest, including a Late Paleoindian Dalton occupation.

Excavations in 2019 yielded an Edgefield scraper and Kirk Notched point, artifacts dating to the early Archaic period.

[25] Elgin, previously named "Blaney", and originally "Jeffers", traces its European-American history to a post office established in the area in 1898.

Seaboard agents, in an effort to increase use of the rail line, promoted business all along its route, including Jeffers.

The town, and post office, was eventually renamed Blaney in honor of a New York banker who helped fund the railroad expansion in the region.

Blaney's first postmaster, Jesse T. Ross (who served for forty-seven years), was the first man to open a business, together with D. D. Evans.

A fully paved road extending along the length of the eastern seaboard, it ran parallel to the already established rail line as it cut through Blaney.

[3] State Senator John West recruited the Elgin National Watch Company in 1962 to relocate to the area.

[28] Elgin is home to the Catfish Stomp, an annual Christmas parade that takes place every year down Main Street.