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History · Mayesville

Mayesville’s post office opened in 1852, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Mayesville was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 62 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1880.

1852first post office

1on the National Register

6%homes built before 1940

3old photos & papers

4famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Mayesville’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Mayesville began

When was Mayesville founded?

1852

The Mayesville post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Jamesville (1799), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 396 in 18802020 census: 548174 years

Founding year: the first Mayesville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mayesville’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Mayesville Historic District takes in 62 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,001 in 2000; 548 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19213 editions of the USGS map, 1921 to 1983. Watch Mayesville change.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mayesville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mayesville’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 viewMayesville - Presbyterian Church: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the National Register

1 listing protects 62 historic buildings

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1979

Mayesville Historic District

Districts

Architectural styles listings

Neo-Classic Revival1

Gothic1

Mayesville Historic DistrictNeo-Classic Revival

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

People over time

Mayesville, census by census

Peaked at 1,001 in 2000; 548 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Mayesville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mayesville.

Read it all →

The town was named for the Mayes family of early settlers after the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad cut through the Mayes' property and began as Mayes Station in 1852, replacing an earlier name of Bradleyville, South Carolina.

Fortunes made in cotton and tobacco created wealthy landowners in this area of South Carolina. Mayesville served the local area as a place to process and sell these products and to obtain supplies. Merchants such as I.W. Bradley, Witherspoon Cooper and Isaac Strauss opened some of the earliest businesses in town. The town suffered greatly during the Civil War but thrived again for several decades beginning in about 1880.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mayesville, 1799 to 2000

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

18th century
1799Post officeThe Jamesville post office opens
19th century
1840Post officeThe Jamesville post office closes
1852Post officeThe Mayesville post office opens
1875Born hereMary McLeod Bethune is born here
20th century
1910In the archiveMayesville - Presbyterian Church
1910Born hereJulius Goldman is born here
1921On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1936Born hereMcKinley Washington, Jr. is born here
1956Born hereArchie Reese is born here
21st century
2000CensusPopulation peaks at 1,001

By decade

Mayesville, decade by decade

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

1910s3 items

c. 1910Mayesville - Presbyterian Church

c. 1910Mayesville - Residence of H.C. Bland

c. 1910Mayesville - Residence of R. J. Mayes, Jr

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

Today3 recent

2022Mayesville SC

2014Mayesville Downtown

2004SCMap-doton-Mayesville

On the map

Mayesville on the map, 1921 to 1983

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

1921Mayesville 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 Mayesville.

Every building

Mayesville, building by building, 1915

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Mayesville fire insurance map, 1915, sheet 1

1915Sheet 1 of 4

Sheets

+3 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Retake this viewMayesville - Presbyterian Church, c. 1910

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

Retake this view · +15

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Mayesville

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

See all →

Mary McLeod BethuneAmerican educator and civil rights leader · b. 1875

Archie ReeseAmerican football player · b. 1956

Julius GoldmanAmerican basketball player · b. 1910

McKinley Washington, Jr.American politician · b. 1936

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Mayesville’s post office has been open since 1852. Another post office, Jamesville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Jamesville

1799–1840

Mayesville

1852–today

17901910today

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

Questions about Mayesville’s history

What year was Mayesville founded?

The Mayesville post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Mayesville?

One place: the Mayesville Historic District (listed 1979).

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 (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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