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History · Lane

Lane’s post office opened in 1875

Most of Lane was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1946 on and the census since 1920.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Evanoco · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Lane began

When was Lane founded?

1875

The Lane post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 308 in 19202020 census: 472151 years
Founding year: the first Lane post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lane’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 Lane are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lane’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lane’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 so far

Lane, in brief

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

Lane is a town in Williamsburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 480 at the 2020 census. Lane is a predominantly black town.

Its first post office opened in 1875. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 508 to 472 (-7%).

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

Timeline

Lane, 1875 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Lane post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1964Born hereClyde Simmons is born here
By decade

Lane, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Lane SC2020Lane SCSCMap-doton-Lane2004SCMap-doton-Lane
On the map

Lane on the map, 1946 to 1990

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

Lane on the 1946 USGS mapLane on the 1986 USGS mapLane on the 1990 USGS map1946Kingstree 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 Lane.

People over time

Lane, census by census

0100200300400500600192019401960198020002020Peak: 585

Between 297 and 585 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Questions about Lane’s history

What year was Lane founded?

The Lane post office opened in 1875, 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 (2), 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.