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–Not graded
History · Converse

Converse’s post office opened in 1891, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Converse Mill. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1912 on.

1891first post office
1on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Converse began

When was Converse founded?

1891

The Converse post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hurricane Shoals (1876), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 534135 years
Founding year: the first Converse post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Converse’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Converse’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOne of the smallest boys I found at the…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Converse, in brief

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

Converse is a Census-designated place located in Spartanburg County in the U.S. State of South Carolina. According to the 2010 United States census, the population was 608.

Its first post office opened in 1891. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 608 to 534 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Converse, 1876 to 1922

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Post officeThe Hurricane Shoals post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Hurricane Shoals post office closes
  4. 1891Post officeThe Converse post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903BuiltConverse Mill is built
  7. 1908Born hereJack Owens is born here
  8. 1912In the archiveOne of the smallest boys I found at the Converse Manufacturing Co
  9. 1922Born hereArt Fowler is born here
By decade

Converse, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
One of the smallest boys I found at the Converse Manufacturing Co1912One of the smallest boys I found at the Converse Manu…
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

One of the smallest boys I found at the Converse Manufacturing Co
Retake this viewOne of the smallest boys I found at the Converse Manufacturing Co, 1912

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Converse’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Converse

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2015
Converse Mill
Converse Mill, built 1903
Buildings
Converse MillBuilt 1903

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Converse

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Art FowlerAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1922
J
Jack OwensAmerican baseball player · b. 1908
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Converse’s post office has been open since 1891. Another post office, Hurricane Shoals, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hurricane Shoals
1876–1880
Converse
1891–today
18701950today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

CliftonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Converse’s history

What year was Converse founded?

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

What is on the National Register in Converse?

One place: the Converse Mill (listed 2015).

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 the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.