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History · Dawson

Dawson’s post office opened in 1891, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

1891first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Dawson began

When was Dawson founded?

1891

The Dawson post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Dawson's (1825), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 100135 years
Founding year: the first Dawson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Dawson’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Dawson are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dawson’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dawson’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Dawson, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dawson yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Dawson is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 103. Dawson is on U.S. Route 220, 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Keyser, West Virginia, and 17 miles (27 km) southwest of Cumberland. It is situated along the northwest bank of the North Branch Potomac River, which forms the Maryland–West Virginia border.

Its first post office opened in 1891. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 103 to 100 (-3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Dawson, 1825 to 1916

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1825Post officeThe Dawson's post office opens
  3. 1854Post officeThe Dawson's post office closes
  4. 1891Post officeThe Dawson post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1916Post officeThe Dawson post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Dawson

Nobody well known was born in Dawson itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
H
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.American literary critic, professor and histori… · b. 1950
D
Don RedmanAmerican musician · b. 1900
Lefty GroveAmerican baseball player · b. 1900
Binger HermannAmerican politician · b. 1843
William M. O. DawsonAmerican politician · b. 1853
Harley Orrin StaggersAmerican politician · b. 1907
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Dawson had its own post office from 1891 to 1916. Another post office, Dawson's, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dawson's
1825–1854
Dawson
1891–1916
18201920today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Dawson’s history

What year was Dawson founded?

The Dawson post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.