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History · Olanta

Olanta’s post office opened in 1908

Most of Olanta was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1963. Below: maps from 1946 on and the census since 1910.

1908first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Evanoco · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Olanta began

When was Olanta founded?

1908

The Olanta post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 230 in 19102020 census: 550118 years
Founding year: the first Olanta post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Olanta’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 Olanta are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Olanta’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Olanta’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Olanta’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

Olanta, in brief

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

Olanta is a town in Florence County, South Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Olanta had a population of 550. It is part of the Florence Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1908. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 563 to 550 (-2%).

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

Timeline

Olanta, 1908 to 1949

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908Post officeThe Olanta post office opens
  3. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1948Born hereGene McFadden is born here
  5. 1949Born hereDoc McKenzie is born here
By decade

Olanta, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Olanta SC2022Olanta SCSCMap-doton-Olanta2004SCMap-doton-Olanta
On the map

Olanta on the map, 1946 to 1990

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

Olanta on the 1946 USGS mapOlanta on the 1986 USGS mapOlanta on the 1990 USGS map1946Lake City 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 Olanta.

People over time

Olanta, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 699

Between 230 and 699 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Olanta

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

See all →
G
Gene McFaddenAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1948
D
Doc McKenzieMusician · b. 1949

Questions about Olanta’s history

What year was Olanta founded?

The Olanta post office opened in 1908, 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.