Dillon’s post office opened in 1888, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #53 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Most of Dillon was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 66 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Dillon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Dillon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dillon is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #53 of 169 in South Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dillon’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 Dillon’s 112 sits above most of its state (85% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 71 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 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 Dillon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Dillon, building by building, 1903–1924
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.
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.
Dillon County was founded in 1910 from a portion of Marion County. The county and the city of Dillon are named for prosperous local citizen James W. Dillon (1826−1913), an Irishman who settled there and led a campaign to bring the railroad into the community. The result of this effort was the construction of the Wilson Short Cut Railroad, which later became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, and which brought greater prosperity to the area by directly linking Dillon County to the national network of railroads. For many decades, residents of Dillon County were primarily loggers and farmers growing cotton and tobacco. Timber harvesting remains a major industry in the county. Dillon County has seen growth in manufacturing and distribution centers over the past 20 years due in part to Interstate 95, which runs north-south through the county.
The Dillon post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Dillon rank for history?
Dillon is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #53 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 Dillon?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the James W. Dillon House (listed 1971, the first), and 1 historic district, the Dillon Downtown Historic District, with 66 contributing buildings. 71 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Dillon?
8% of Dillon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
