Abbeville dates to 1764, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #1 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Armistead Burt House, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 280 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1794.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Abbeville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Abbeville is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #1 of 169 in South Carolina. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Abbeville’s overall grade.
South Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical South Carolina town has 3.2 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Abbeville’s 1,145 sits above most of its state (100% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 558 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.1 points). Two sources give 1764.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Abbeville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
Abbeville was established by French Huguenots in 1764, at a site named by John de la Howe. It was incorporated in 1840.
Famed states' rights advocate and Vice President John C. Calhoun first practiced law in Abbeville, and he was born on a farm on the outskirts in what is now Mt. Carmel.
Abbeville has the unique distinction of being both the birthplace and the deathbed of the Confederacy. On November 22, 1860, a meeting was held at Abbeville, at a site since dubbed "Secession Hill", to launch South Carolina's secession from the Union; one month later, the state of South Carolina became the first state to secede.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewCommunity House, 1890
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Abbeville’s page.
Abbeville County Training SchoolschoolAbbeville Mill Grade SchoolschoolHarrisburg Street Grade SchoolschoolHoliness ChurchchurchPoplar Grove Davidic SchoolschoolSouth Main Street Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Abbeville
HobsonMelroseTrinity
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Abbeville’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
In 1764, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Abbeville’s post office opened in 1794, and the census of 1850 counted 1,252 people here.
How does Abbeville rank for history?
Abbeville is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #1 of 169 in South Carolina. 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 Abbeville?
8 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Armistead Burt House (a National Historic Landmark since 1992), 1 historic district, the Abbeville Historic District, with 280 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 558 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Abbeville?
26% of Abbeville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
★ Landmark
1890
c. 1910
1910
c. 1912
c. 1915
