Charleston has 110 places on the National Register, 34 of them National Historic Landmarks
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #9 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Dated to 1670 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history), with 10% of its homes built before 1940 and 16 historic districts holding 505 contributing buildings. Below: maps from 1884 on, the census since 1790, and every listing on the Register.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1789.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Charleston’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Charleston is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #9 of 169 in South Carolina. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Charleston’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Charleston ranks #72 on History.
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 Charleston’s 32.7 sits above most of its state (74% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 505 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1670.
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 Charleston’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. 34 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Charleston’s post office has been open since 1789. Six other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Charleston
1789–today
John's Island
1857–1858
James Island
1882–1909
Stono
1882–1903
Exchange
1889–1918
Myers
1894–1953
John's Island
1903–today
Remleys
1920–1944
17801900today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Anson Borough HomesAshley Hall ManorAshley HarborAshleyvilleAvondaleByrnes DownsCharles Towne VillageCharlestowne EstatesChesterfieldClarks PointCountry Club EstatesCreek PointEssex VillageFenwick CrossroadsForest Acres WestFort BullGadsden Green HomesGarden HillGehlkinGreenwood ParkGrove Creek VillageHarrison AcresHeathwoodHibernian Heights
Gone or out of use
Academy of Fine ArtsschoolAnson Street Presbyterian ChurchchurchBethel ChurchchurchBroad Street TheaterbuildingCalvary ChurchchurchCharleston Orphan HousebuildingChisolm MilllocaleCut Ridge SchoolschoolDaniels Island ChurchchurchFort PembertonmilitaryGirls High School and Normal SchoolschoolGlebe Street Presbyterian ChurchchurchGuard HousebuildingJohn P. Grace Memorial BridgebridgeJohns Island Army Air FieldmilitaryLegare Street Free SchoolschoolMarine HospitalhospitalMeeting Street Free Schoolschool
13cemeteries and burying grounds inside Charleston
AdverseBethanyBrownFirst Scots Presbyterian ChurchHebrewHoly CrossLive Oak Memorial GardensMagnoliaNelliefield CreekQuaker ChurchyardSaint LawrenceSaint PetersSaint Thomas
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The unified Cusabo people (including sub tribes such as Kiawah) and the Ittiwan people inhabited the area prior to colonial settlement. They were known as "Settlement Indians" by colonists.
Passages that mention Charleston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The newspaper press of Charleston, S.C.1872 · page 115Read the page →
Read the text
Some idea can be formed of the comparative insignificancy of the mail matter which came into, and went out of Charleston, even up to a period as recent as 1839. On the 15th of November, 1836, consequent upon a change of schedule in the departure of the United States Mail from Fayettefcille, North Carolina, the Charleston papers of that day announced that the Government had established a horse express, between this City and the point
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The newspaper press of Charleston, S.C.1872 · page 147Read the page →
Read the text
The Charleston Mercury, a daily morning print, which was established as a literary journal, on the 1st January, 1822, by that classic scholar, Edmund Morford, who had then returned to Charleston, was purchased and converted into a political organ by Henry Laurens Pinckney, June 1, 1823. From that date it became the representative of the Free Trade and State Plights Party, of South Carolina, In the warfare of parties, State and National, Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Biographical sketches of the Huguenot Solomon Legaré and of his family1886Read the page →
Read the text
The prison-ships of the British were anchored in the harbor of Charleston, between Castle Pinckney and Sullivan's Island, and there they remained till the following June, when the ships were ordered on to Virginia by the British authorities in Charleston, who circulated the statement that the prisoners were sent to Virginia to be exchanged ; but what their real intention was in sending them away, will
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Charleston, 1670 to 1960
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Charleston. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1948Charleston sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Charleston.
Every building
Charleston, building by building, 1884–1902
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.
In 1670, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Charleston’s post office opened in 1789, and the first U.S. census counted 16,359 people here in 1790.
How does Charleston rank for history?
Charleston is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #9 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 Charleston?
110 listings, 34 of them National Historic Landmarks: 82 buildings, 16 historic districts with 382 contributing buildings, 2 sites, and 9 structures. 505 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Charleston?
10% of Charleston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (109), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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