Darlington’s post office opened in 1801, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #13 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
17 places in town are on the National Register, among them five historic districts with 163 buildings between them. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Darlington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1835.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Darlington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Darlington is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #13 of 169 in South Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Darlington’s overall grade.
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 Darlington’s 294 sits above most of its state (95% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 180 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1835 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Darlington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Originally a heavily wooded area, the settlement of what is now Darlington County began in earnest after 1736 and 1737 when the province of South Carolina set aside a vast area of land for the Welsh Baptists of Delaware. This Welsh Tract bordered both sides of the Pee Dee River. For almost thirty years, settlers concentrated on the banks and small tributaries of the Pee Dee River. Beginning in the 1760s, and continuing into the 1770s, other groups slowly made their way into present-day Darlington, and were granted lands on the Lynches River, Jeffries Creek, and a host of other watercourses. These settlers included descendants of French Huguenots, Scots-Irish, and the English.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Darlington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1953Florence sheet · 1:250,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Darlington.
Every building
Darlington, building by building, 1884–1913
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Retake this viewHanging of Amy Spain, 1865
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Darlington’s page.
The Darlington post office opened in 1801, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1835.
How does Darlington rank for history?
Darlington is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #13 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 Darlington?
17 listings: 11 buildings, 5 historic districts with 163 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 180 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Darlington?
11% of Darlington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (17), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
c. 1905
c. 1905
c. 1908
c. 1908
c. 1908
c. 1909
1910
c. 1910
1910
