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History · La France

La France’s post office opened in 1928

Most of La France was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: maps from 1950 on.

1928first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How La France began

When was La France founded?

1928

The La France post office opened in 1928, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Pendleton Factory (1871) and Autun (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 47698 years
Founding year: the first La France post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about La France’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 La France are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s La France.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start La France’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how La France’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

La France’s post office has been open since 1928. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Pendleton Factory
1871–1881
Autun
1881–1928
La France
1928–today
18701950today

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

The story so far

La France, in brief

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

La France is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Anderson County, South Carolina. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 476. La France is located on U.S. Route 76 and South Carolina Highway 28, 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Anderson. La France has a post office with ZIP code 29656, which opened on April 12, 1871.

Its first post office opened in 1928.

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

Timeline

La France, 1871 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Pendleton Factory post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Pendleton Factory post office closes
  4. 1881Post officeThe Autun post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1928Post officeThe Autun post office closes
  7. 1928Post officeThe La France post office opens
  8. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
Add from your album
On the map

La France on the map, 1950 to 1980

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

La France on the 1950 USGS mapLa France on the 1980 USGS map1950La France sheet · 1:24,000

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

Famous people

Famous people close to La France

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

See all →
Chadwick BosemanAmerican actor · b. 1976
John EdwardsAmerican politician · b. 1953
Darline GrahamAmerican politician · b. 1964
Larry NanceAmerican basketball player · b. 1959
Thomas Jefferson RuskAmerican politician · b. 1803
Jim RiceAmerican baseball player · b. 1953
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Sandy SpringsIts storyDPendleton4 historic placesB+

Questions about La France’s history

What year was La France founded?

The La France post office opened in 1928, 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 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.