Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #79 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Most of Arcadia was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: maps from 1949 on.
Arcadia dates its founding to 1902 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1904.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Arcadia is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #79 of 169 in South Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Arcadia’s 17.5 sits above most of its state (71% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Arcadia’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Arcadia.
Arcadia was founded in 1902, and was so named for a fancied resemblance of its landscapes to the ancient region of Arcadia.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Arcadia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Arcadia.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Arcadia itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Arcadia’s post office has been open since 1904.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1902, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Arcadia’s post office opened in 1904.
Arcadia is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #79 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.
Two places: the Arcadia Mill No. 2 (listed 2005) and the Arcadia Mill No.1 (2014).
8% of Arcadia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1998.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
