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–Not graded
History · Dale

Dale’s post office opened in 1890

Most of Dale was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: maps from 1918 on.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dale began

When was Dale founded?

1890

The Dale post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 633136 years
Founding year: the first Dale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dale’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 Dale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19183 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1988. Watch Dale change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dale’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
On the map

Dale on the map, 1918 to 1988

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

Dale on the 1918 USGS mapDale on the 1943 USGS mapDale on the 1988 USGS map1918Green Pond 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 Dale.

The story

How Dale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dale.

Read it all →

Dale was formerly on the alignment of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad's Carolina Division low-level main line, constructed from 1915 and opened December 31, 1917. This rail route passed to the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad with the July 1, 1967 merger of the SAL and longtime rival Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, becoming the Charleston Subdivision, and the line downgraded with most traffic rerouting over the former ACL alignment to the west. The "East Carolina Subdivision", as it was colloquially called, was abandoned by stages, with the first portion removed north of Dale, between Lobeco and Charleston, after October 1, 1967. Following the April 21, 1971 destruction of the old SAL lift bridge over the Savannah River by a ship in foggy conditions, the southern connection into Savannah was cut and the rail line removed between Coosaw and Pritchardville, south of Dale, in 1978. Most of the re…

ChaptersRailroadIncidents

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dale, 1890 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Dale post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1966Post officeThe Dale 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 Dale

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

See all →
Joe FrazierAmerican boxer · b. 1944
Robert SmallsAmerican politician and former slave · b. 1839
Bettye AckermanAmerican actress · b. 1924
Candice GloverAmerican singer · b. 1989
C
Clementa C. PinckneyAmerican politician · b. 1973
Ryan HartmanAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1994
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Dale had its own post office from 1890 to 1966.

Dale
1890–1966
18901960today

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.

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

Questions about Dale’s history

What year was Dale founded?

The Dale post office opened in 1890, 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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.