Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #70 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Most of Denmark was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1890.
The Denmark post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Grahams Turn Out (1837) and Grahams (1890), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Denmark is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #70 of 169 in South Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Denmark’s 48.1 sits above most of its state (78% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 15 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Denmark’s history is told.
Peaked at 4,434 in 1980; 3,186 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Denmark’s Wikipedia page.
Denmark’s post office has been open since 1892. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Denmark.
Cleveland Sellers oral history interview conducted by John Dittmer in Denmark, South Carolina, 2013 March 21.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveDenmark (SC) - The Hotel
BuiltDenmark High School is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltAmerican Telephone and Telegraph Company Building is built
In the archiveDenmark - Presbyterian Church2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Denmark. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Denmark.
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.
1908Sheet 2 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Denmark’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Denmark post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Denmark is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #70 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.
Three places: the Voorhees College Historic District (listed 1982), the American Telephone and Telegraph Company Building (1999) and the Denmark High School (2001).
4% of Denmark’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1977.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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