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George P. Hoffman HouseGeorge P. Hoffman House · Photo: Eastward Gypsy · CC BY-SA 4.0
C−History
History · Blythewood

Blythewood’s post office opened in 1877, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns · #97 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it

Most of Blythewood was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2010. Its Register listing is the George P. Hoffman House. Its Register listing is the George P. Hoffman House. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1980.

1877first post office
1on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Blythewood began

When was Blythewood founded?

1877

The Blythewood post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Doko (1856), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 92 in 19802020 census: 4,772149 years

How historic is Blythewood?

C−

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Blythewood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Blythewood’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Blythewood is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #97 of 169 in South Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Blythewood’s overall grade.
Founding era1877, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.9) · typical SC town 3.5% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 1.7 per 10,000 residents · typical SC town 3.2 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 23%
NewerOlder
South Carolina towns of 2,500+ (169)Ahead of 43%

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 Blythewood’s 1.7 sits near the middle of its state (49% of South Carolina 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 D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 Blythewood’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 Blythewood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Blythewood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blythewood’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
The story

How Blythewood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Blythewood.

Read it all →

Blythewood was originally named "Doko", a Native American term for a watering place. The town was named after Doko Depot, which was a stop along the railroad that ran between Charlotte and Columbia. In 1865, this railroad was destroyed by General Sherman. The town was rebuilt, and changed its name to Blythewood in 1877, after a local school called The Blythewood Female Institute. The school was later renamed "Blythewood Academy".

The George P. Hoffman House, built in 1855, is the oldest extant house in Blythewood and is used as the city hall. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Blythewood, 1855 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855BuiltGeorge P. Hoffman House is built
  3. 1856Post officeThe Doko post office opens
  4. 1877Post officeThe Doko post office closes
  5. 1877Post officeThe Blythewood post office opens
  6. 1886Born hereElizabeth Hawley Gasque is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1993Born hereBrandon Wilds is born here
  10. 1999Born hereAmaré Barno is born here
  11. 21st century
  12. 2000Born hereCam Smith is born here
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
On the map

Blythewood on the map, 1935 to 1990

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

Blythewood on the 1935 USGS mapBlythewood on the 1953 USGS mapBlythewood on the 1971 USGS mapBlythewood on the 1990 USGS map1935Killian sheet · 1:62,500

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Blythewood

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
George P. Hoffman House
George P. Hoffman House, built 1855
Buildings
George P. Hoffman HouseBuilt 1855

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Blythewood, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0001980200020204,772

Grew from 92 people in 1980 to 4,772 in 2020, more than tenfold.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Blythewood’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

7 famous people were born in Blythewood

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Elizabeth Hawley GasqueAmerican politician · b. 1886
A
Amaré BarnoAmerican football player · b. 1999
Cam SmithAmerican football player · b. 2000
Brandon WildsAmerican football running back · b. 1993
A
Andrew BeckwithBaseball player · b. 1995
David BaucomRetired United States Navy Rear Admiral · b. 1959
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Blythewood’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Doko, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Doko
1856–1877
Blythewood
1877–today
18501940today

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

Questions about Blythewood’s history

What year was Blythewood founded?

The Blythewood post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Blythewood rank for history?

Blythewood is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #97 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 Blythewood?

One place: the George P. Hoffman House (listed 1986).

How old are the homes in Blythewood?

0.5% of Blythewood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 2010.

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).

From Wikidata (1), 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) 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.