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History · Lawndale

Lawndale’s post office opened in 1894, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1910.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Lawndale began

When was Lawndale founded?

1894

The Lawndale post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Garner's Ford (1828), Piedmont (1842) and Gardner's Ford (1876), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 568 in 19102020 census: 570132 years
Founding year: the first Lawndale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lawndale’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 Lawndale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lawndale.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,006 in 1940; 570 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Lawndale’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lawndale’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Lawndale’s post office has been open since 1894. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Garner's Ford
1828–1875
Piedmont
1842–1846
Gardner's Ford
1876–1877
Lawndale
1894–today
18201920today
Gone or out of use
Gardners Fordlocale

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

People over time

Lawndale, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,006

Peaked at 1,006 in 1940; 570 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lawndale’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Lawndale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lawndale.

Read it all →

Lawndale developed in the late 19th century around the Cleveland Mills plant established by Major H.F. Schenck. The town was named for the green lawns of the houses where many of the mill's workers lived. Schenck's daughter and son-in-law opened the Piedmont Academy in 1897, and rail service to Shelby began two years later. Lawndale was incorporated in 1903.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lawndale, 1828 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe Garner's Ford post office opens
  3. 1842Post officeThe Piedmont post office opens
  4. 1846Post officeThe Piedmont post office closes
  5. 1875Post officeThe Garner's Ford post office closes
  6. 1876Post officeThe Gardner's Ford post office opens
  7. 1877Post officeThe Gardner's Ford post office closes
  8. 1897Born hereForrest H. Shuford is born here
  9. 20th century
  10. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 1,006
  11. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lawndale, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Lawndale-Town-Hall-nc2021Lawndale-Town-Hall-ncLawndale-Main-St-nc2021Lawndale-Main-St-ncLawndale-Cleveland-Mills-tower-nc2021Lawndale-Cleveland-Mills-tower-ncNCMap-doton-Lawndale2004NCMap-doton-Lawndale
On the map

Lawndale on the map, 1950 to 2002

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lawndale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lawndale on the 1950 USGS mapLawndale on the 1982 USGS mapLawndale on the 2002 USGS map1950Shelby sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lawndale.

Questions about Lawndale’s history

What year was Lawndale founded?

The Lawndale post office opened in 1894, 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 →
Start a conversation
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 Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.