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B+History
History · Cowpens

Cowpens’ post office opened in 1847, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Cowpens Depot. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1959 on, and the census since 1880.

1847first post office
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cowpens’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cowpens began

When was Cowpens founded?

1847

The Cowpens post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 112 in 18802020 census: 2,023179 years

How historic is Cowpens?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Cowpens’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cowpens is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cowpens’ overall grade.
Founding era1847, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194015.3% of homes (±7.7) · typical SC town 3.5% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 5.4 per 10,000 residents · typical SC town 3.2 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
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 Cowpens’ 5.4 sits near the middle of its state (56% 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 B to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 points). 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 Cowpens’ past

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

Deep rootsA post office since 1847: 179 years of Cowpens.
★ What stands out · Timeline

Cowpens, 1847 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1847Post officeThe Cowpens post office opens
  3. 1898Born hereJosephine Groves Holloway is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1912In the archiveThe smallest boy is a band boy, next is a doffer. The smallest girl is a spinner. Work in…
  6. 1930Born hereHank Garland is born here
  7. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1971Born hereGabe Wilkins is born here
The story

How Cowpens came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cowpens.

Read it all →

The community was named on account of pens for cattle near the original town site.

During the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Cowpens was fought on January 17, 1781, resulting in a decisive victory for American Patriot forces over British troops commanded by Banastre Tarleton. The battle site is preserved at Cowpens National Battlefield, located 9 miles (14 km) north of town in Cherokee County, near the town of Chesnee. Two ships of the U.S. Navy have been named USS Cowpens in honor of the battle.

The Cowpens Depot, built in 1896, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Cowpens, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s7 items
The smallest boy is a band boy, next is a doffer. The smallest girl is a spinner. Work in Cowpers' [i.e., Cowpen's?] Ma…1912The smallest boy is a band boy, next is a doffer. The…The smallest boy is a band boy, next is a doffer. The smallest girl is a spinner. Work in Cowpers' [i.e., Cowpen's?] Ma…1912The smallest boy is a band boy, next is a doffer. The…The smallest boy is a band boy, next is a doffer. The smallest girl is a spinner. Work in Cowpers' [i.e., Cowpen's?] Ma…1912The smallest boy is a band boy, next is a doffer. The…The smallest boy is a band boy, next in order is a doffer. The smallest girl is a spinner. Work in Cowpers' [i.e., Cowp…1912The smallest boy is a band boy, next in order is a do…The smallest boy is a band boy, next is a doffer. The smallest girl is a spinner. Work in Cowpers' [i.e., Cowpen's?] Ma…1912The smallest boy is a band boy, next is a doffer. The…A group of school children in the third and fourth grades of the Cowpens, S.C., School. All in the front row are 9 and …1912A group of school children in the third and fourth gr…Group showing most of the youngsters working in the Cowpen's Manufacturing Co., S.C. They are all regular workers inclu…1912Group showing most of the youngsters working in the C…
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Cowpens on the map, 1959 to 1983

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

Cowpens on the 1959 USGS mapCowpens on the 1983 USGS map1959Cowpens 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 Cowpens.

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.

The smallest boy is a band boy, next is a doffer. The smallest girl is a spinner. Work in Cowpers' [i.e., Cowpen's?] Ma…
Retake this viewThe smallest boy is a band boy, next is a doffer. The smallest girl is a spinner. Work in Cowpers' [i.e., Cowpen's?] Ma…, 1912

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Cowpens

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
1997
Cowpens Depot
Cowpens Depot
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th Century1
Cowpens DepotLate 19th Century

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

People over time

Cowpens, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,279

Between 112 and 2,279 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Cowpens

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

See all →
H
Hank GarlandAmerican musician · b. 1930
G
Gabe WilkinsAmerican football player · b. 1971
J
Josephine Groves HollowayFirst African-American in scouting · b. 1898
Help out

Finish Cowpens’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.
Retake an old viewThe smallest boy is a band boy, next is…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Cowpens’ history

What year was Cowpens founded?

The Cowpens post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Cowpens rank for history?

Cowpens is more historic than 72% 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.

What is on the National Register in Cowpens?

One place: the Cowpens Depot (listed 1997).

How old are the homes in Cowpens?

15% of Cowpens’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1973.

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 (7), 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.