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History · Cross Hill

Cross Hill’s post office opened in 1835, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1880.

1835first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Cross Hill began

When was Cross Hill founded?

1835

The Cross Hill post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Carroll (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 149 in 18802020 census: 404191 years
Founding year: the first Cross Hill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Cross Hill’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 Cross Hill are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 678 in 1930; 404 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1835: 191 years of Cross Hill.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cross Hill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cross Hill’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
People over time

Cross Hill, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 678

Peaked at 678 in 1930; 404 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Cross Hill, 1835 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835Post officeThe Cross Hill post office opens
  3. 1875Born hereJohn J. McSwain is born here
  4. 1899Post officeThe Carroll post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1907Post officeThe Carroll post office closes
  7. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 678
  8. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Cross Hill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cross Hill.

Read it all →

Cross Hill developed around the intersection of two old Indian trails. The Carter family constructed an inn at the intersection of these two trails in 1795. By 1837, the community that developed around the inn was known as "Cross Hill." The town expanded with the arrival of the Georgia, Carolina and Northern Railway in 1890, and officially incorporated that same year.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Cross Hill, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Cross-Hill-post-office-sc2020Cross-Hill-post-office-scCross-Hill-Town-Hall-sc2020Cross-Hill-Town-Hall-scCross-Hill-RR-tracks-sc2020Cross-Hill-RR-tracks-scCross-Hill-Main-St-sc2020Cross-Hill-Main-St-scCross-Hill-Leaman-store-sc2020Cross-Hill-Leaman-store-sc
On the map

Cross Hill on the map in 1970

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cross Hill.

Cross Hill on the 1970 USGS map1970Cross Hill 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 Cross Hill.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Cross Hill’s post office has been open since 1835. Another post office, Carroll, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cross Hill
1835–today
Carroll
1899–1907
18301930today

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

Questions about Cross Hill’s history

What year was Cross Hill founded?

The Cross Hill post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), 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.