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History · Modoc

Modoc’s post office opened in 1882

Most of Modoc was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Modoc began

When was Modoc founded?

1882

The Modoc post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Boutwell (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 312144 years
Founding year: the first Modoc post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Modoc’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Modoc’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Modoc, in brief

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

Modoc is a census-designated place (CDP) in McCormick County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 256 at the 2000 census, and 218 at the 2010 census, a decline of 14.8%. Local tradition holds that railroad engineers named Modoc for the Modoc indigenous tribe of Northern California, which was causing trouble for the railroad line, as the line was also having property rights disputes with local landowners.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 218 to 312 (+43%).

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

Timeline

Modoc, 1875 to 1882

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Boutwell post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Boutwell post office closes
  4. 1882Post officeThe Modoc post office opens
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 Modoc

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

See all →
Oliver HardyAmerican comic actor famous as one half of Laur… · b. 1892
Strom ThurmondAmerican politician · b. 1902
Reese HoffaAmerican shot putter · b. 1977
Preston BrooksSouth Carolina politician. · b. 1819
Millie JacksonAmerican singer · b. 1944
Louis WigfallAmerican politician · b. 1816
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Modoc’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Boutwell, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Boutwell
1875–1882
Modoc
1882–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Gilchrist FerrycrossingLaura Chapelchurch
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Modoc
JonesModoc

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

Questions about Modoc’s history

What year was Modoc founded?

The Modoc post office opened in 1882, 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 →
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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 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.