The Charleston post office opened in 1810, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Charleston Four Corners (1828), Burtonsville (1837) and Oak Ridge (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 5,365 in 18202020 census: 1,355216 years
How historic is Charleston?
A−
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Charleston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Charleston’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Charleston is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Charleston’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Charleston’s 7.2 sits near the middle of its state (41% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Charleston’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Parts of Charleston were in Corry's Patent (1737), Stone Heap Patent (1770), and Thomas Machin's Patent (1787). Settlers began arriving before the American Revolution.
The Town of Charleston was formed by a division of the original "Town of Mohawk" in 1793. This division, which also created the town of Florida, terminated Mohawk as a town until another town with that name was created in 1837. Charleston was reduced in size in 1823, when the towns of Glen and Root (in part) were established.
The First Baptist Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
Passages that mention Charleston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
An historical and descriptive review of the City of Charleston1884 · page 24Read the page →
Read the text
Charleston County lies entirely along the coast, and besides the city of Charleston, has two small towns. Moultrieville, on Sullivan’s Island, is five miles across the bay from Charleston, and is connected with it by a steam ferry. It is a pleasure and health resort for Charlestonians and the people of the upper country, who resort here in summer, to enjoy the sea air, and bathing, its fine beach affords. It contains many handsome cottages, and some fine drives. It derives its name from Fort Moultrie, which beat off the British fleet of Sir Peter Parker on June 28th, 1776, and which, with Fort Sumter,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
An historical and descriptive review of the City of Charleston1884 · page 132Read the page →
Read the text
find the subject of this sketch, at the head of two of the largest commercial houses in the South, an alderman of the then opulent city of Charleston, chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, Director of the Bank of South Carolina, also of two Railroad Companies. During the war, through
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Charleston, 1802 to 1940
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Charleston post office opened in 1810, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Charleston rank for history?
Charleston is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Charleston?
One place: the First Baptist Church (listed 1994).
How old are the homes in Charleston?
23% of Charleston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1980.
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).
From the Library of Congress (2), 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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