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History · South Lancaster

38% of South Lancaster’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1900 on.

0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about South Lancaster’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 South Lancaster are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s South Lancaster, and 1 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1984. Watch South Lancaster change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start South Lancaster’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how South Lancaster’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hurricane
1838–1847
Hurricane Grove
1850–1883
Hurricane
1883–1904
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hurricane
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside South Lancaster
HillsideHurricaneMorrellSaint Clements

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

On the map

South Lancaster on the map, 1900 to 1984

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

South Lancaster on the 1900 USGS mapSouth Lancaster on the 1962 USGS mapSouth Lancaster on the 1984 USGS map1900Lancaster sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of South Lancaster.

The story so far

South Lancaster, in brief

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

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 843 to 884 (+5%).

Timeline

South Lancaster, 1838 to 1904

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe Hurricane post office opens
  3. 1847Post officeThe Hurricane post office closes
  4. 1850Post officeThe Hurricane Grove post office opens
  5. 1883Post officeThe Hurricane Grove post office closes
  6. 1883Post officeThe Hurricane post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1904Post officeThe Hurricane post office closes
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.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to South Lancaster

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

See all →
Herbert Spencer GasserAmerican physiologist · b. 1888
John FiedlerAmerican actor · b. 1925
Christopher C. MillerActing U.S. Secretary of Defense during the las… · b. 1965
Anne Sewell YoungAmerican astronomer · b. 1871
Castello Newton HolfordAmerican novelist · b. 1845
George Barnett12th Commandant of the Marine Corps · b. 1859
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lancaster6 historic placesAEllenboroIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBeetownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPotosiIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth LancasterIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about South Lancaster’s history

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.