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D−History
History · Camp Croft

Half of Camp Croft’s homes were built after 1978

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Camp Croft was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 9 old photos and papers and maps from 1947 on.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
From Camp Croft’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Camp Croft’s history

How historic is Camp Croft?

D−

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Camp Croft’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Camp Croft is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Camp Croft’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 2%
NewerOlder

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 Camp Croft’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. 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 Camp Croft’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Delmar EstatesHuntington HillsPonderosa GardensRosewood
Gone or out of use
Camp CroftmilitaryMount Sinai Churchchurch

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Camp Croft came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Camp Croft.

Read it all →

A U.S. Army base named Camp Croft was organized on what is now the area of the Camp Croft CDP during World War II. The base served as an Infantry Replacement Training Center and trained 60,000 soldiers per year from 1941 to 1946. Among the trainees was Henry Kissinger. Kissinger was naturalized at Camp Croft and would later serve as Secretary of State under President Nixon. In the later years of the war, a prisoner-of-war camp was established at Camp Croft and almost 1,000 German prisoners were held there. After the war, Camp Croft was not retained as a military installation and the land was returned to civilian control. The former base was redeveloped partly as a residential neighborhood and partly as Croft State Park.

ChaptersWorld War II

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Camp Croft, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

On the map

Camp Croft on the map, 1947 to 1983

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

Camp Croft on the 1947 USGS mapCamp Croft on the 1983 USGS map1947Spartanburg 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 Camp Croft.

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.

Wife of a construction worker from Camp Croft. They live in a trailer camp near Spartanburg, South Carolina
Retake this viewWife of a construction worker from Camp Croft. They live in a trailer camp near Spartanburg, South Carolina, 1941

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Camp Croft’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Camp Croft

Nobody well known was born in Camp Croft itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Help out

Finish Camp Croft’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Questions about Camp Croft’s history

How does Camp Croft rank for history?

Camp Croft is more historic than 2% 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.

How old are the homes in Camp Croft?

0.0% of Camp Croft’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1978.

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 the Library of Congress (9), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.