Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #14 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Most of Beaufort was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. 14 places in town are on the National Register, among them 3 National Historic Landmarks and a historic district with 467 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1850.
Beaufort dates its founding to 1711 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Beaufort is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #14 of 169 in South Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Beaufort’s 348 sits above most of its state (96% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 478 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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. 3 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Lost a third of its people between 1900 and 1910, then grew 5-fold.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Beaufort’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Beaufort.
Written history began 500 years ago with the exploration of the area by Spanish Captain Pedro de Salazar between 1514 and 1516. Nearby, the colony of Santa Elena was having problems by 1566, when a group of potential settlers sailed from northwest Iberia and the Spanish governor of Floritda, Acinega, dispatched under Captain Pardo and 250 men to reinforce the colony.
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.
In the archiveBattleOfBeaufortBuiltJohn A. Cuthbert House is built
In the archiveIsaac I. Stevens
Born hereRobert Smalls is born here
In the archiveCopy of the plot of the city of
Born hereJoe Frazier is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey3 decades in the archive, from the 1770s to the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Beaufort. 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 Beaufort.
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 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Beaufort’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Beaufort’s post office has been open since 1794. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1711, according to Wikidata. Beaufort’s post office opened in 1794, and the census of 1850 counted 879 people here.
Beaufort is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #14 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.
14 listings, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks: 10 buildings, 1 historic district, the Beaufort Historic District, with 467 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 2 structures. 478 historic buildings in all.
4% of Beaufort’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (14), 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.
1779
1860
