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History · Donalds

Donalds was first counted by the census in 1890, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Donalds Grange No. 497. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1890.

1890first census
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Donalds began

When was Donalds founded?

1890

Donalds first appears in the census in 1890. Another post office, Donnaldsville (1852), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 216 in 18902020 census: 328136 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Donalds’ 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 Donalds are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Donalds’ homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Donalds’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Donalds’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
The story

How Donalds came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Donalds.

Read it all →

Donalds Grange No. 497 and Greenville Presbyterian Church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Donalds, 1852 to 1892

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Donnaldsville post office opens
  3. 1890Post officeThe Donnaldsville post office closes
  4. 1890Post officeThe Donalds post office opens
  5. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Donalds, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Cabin on the property of an old grange hall in the tiny South Carolina community of Donalds2017Cabin on the property of an old grange hall in the ti…The old grange hall in the tiny South Carolina community of Donalds2017The old grange hall in the tiny South Carolina commun…Historical mural in the tiny South Carolina community of Donalds2017Historical mural in the tiny South Carolina community…
On the map

Donalds on the map, 1892 to 1971

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

Donalds on the 1892 USGS mapDonalds on the 1971 USGS map1892Abbeville sheet · 1:125,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Donalds

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
1995
Donalds Grange No. 497
Donalds Grange No. 497
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Depression-era Functional1
Donalds Grange No. 497Depression-era Functional

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

People over time

Donalds, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 416

Between 216 and 416 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Donalds

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

See all →
Chadwick BosemanAmerican actor · b. 1976
John C. CalhounVice president of the United States from 1825 t… · b. 1782
P
Pink AndersonAmerican singer-guitarist · b. 1900
Allisha GrayAmerican basketball player · b. 1995
Reverend Gary DavisAmerican blues and gospel singer and guitarist · b. 1896
Larry NanceAmerican basketball player · b. 1959
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Donalds’s post office has been open since 1890. Another post office, Donnaldsville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Donnaldsville
1852–1890
Donalds
1890–today
18501940today
Gone or out of use
Donalds High Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Donalds
Donalds

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

Questions about Donalds’ history

What year was Donalds founded?

The Donalds post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Donalds?

One place: the Donalds Grange No. 497 (listed 1995).

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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.