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History · Vance

Vance’s post office opened in 1886, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1921 on and the census since 1900.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Evanoco · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Vance began

When was Vance founded?

1886

The Vance post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 81 in 19002020 census: 128140 years
Founding year: the first Vance post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Vance’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 Vance are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1940 and 1970, then more than doubled.On the map since 19213 editions of the USGS map, 1921 to 1979. Watch Vance change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vance’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vance’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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People over time

Vance, census by census

01002001900192019401960198020002020125 in 1940Low: 54

Lost half of its people between 1940 and 1970, then more than doubled.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

On the map

Vance on the map, 1921 to 1979

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

Vance on the 1921 USGS mapVance on the 1943 USGS mapVance on the 1979 USGS map1921Eutawville 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 Vance.

The story

How Vance came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vance.

Read it all →

Vance was previously called Vance's Ferry. Sir William Vance established the ferry about 1766, which served as a crucial shipping link for cotton and trade between Charleston and the upcountry. The ferry was used for over a century by merchants and travellers to cross the Santee River and connect to other towns and cities. The inlet off the river was a convenient place to moor small trading skiffs. Bridge construction and railroad construction decreased river freighting. Over the centuries the town center remained on higher ground along Old Number Six Highway, which originally was a Native American trail. The Town of Vance was incorporated on December 18, 1891 for 30 years. It was re-chartered on April 13, 1921.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vance, 1886 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Vance post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1921On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 214
By decade

Vance, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Vance South Carolina2020Vance South CarolinaVance South Carolina sign2020Vance South Carolina signSCMap-doton-Vance2004SCMap-doton-Vance

Questions about Vance’s history

What year was Vance founded?

The Vance post office opened in 1886, 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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, 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.