Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Easley

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C+History
History · Easley

Easley dates to 1873, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #74 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it

Most of Easley was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1880.

1873founded
3on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
11famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Easley’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Easley began

When was Easley founded?

1873

Easley dates its founding to 1873 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 327 in 18802020 census: 22,921153 years

How historic is Easley?

C+

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1823.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Easley’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Easley is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #74 of 169 in South Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Easley’s overall grade.
Founding era1873, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.5% of homes (±1.2) · typical SC town 3.5% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register3 listings, 8 historic buildings, 3.2 per 10,000 residents · typical SC town 3.2 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 39%
NewerOlder
South Carolina towns of 2,500+ (169)Ahead of 57%

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 Easley’s 3.2 sits near the middle of its state (52% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% 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 (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1873.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Easley’s past

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

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Easley, and 27 old place names are still on the map.Famous sons and daughtersShannon Forrest, Kyle Fisher and 9 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Easley’s post office has been open since 1875. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Rock Spring
1823–1833
Easley's Mills
1856–1858
Easley
1875–today
Dalton
1890–1908
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Avondale HeightsBotany ParkBrookwood HeightsBurdine SpringsCanaan LandChadwickCherokee ForestCountryside ManorCrestview HeightsElaine HeightsForest AcresHamilton HeightsHuntington NorthHuntington SouthKingsberryLathemMarshall HeightsMcDaniel HeightsNorth HillsOak CreekPagelandPickensvilleSmithfieldsTimberlane
Gone or out of use
Dayton SchoolschoolHouse of PrayerchurchPentecostal ChurchchurchWesleyan Methodist Episcopal Churchchurch
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Easley
Easley MillGreenlawn Memorial ParkRock Springs Baptist ChurchWest View

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

Famous people

11 famous people were born in Easley

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

See all →
Shannon ForrestMusical artist · b. 1973
K
Kyle FisherAmerican soccer player · b. 1994
S
Stanley MorganAmerican football player · b. 1955
Wes KnightAmerican soccer player · b. 1986
Tilghman HowardAmerican politician · b. 1797
Neal CollinsAmerican lawyer and politician · b. 1982
The story

How Easley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Easley.

Read it all →

In 1791, Washington District was established by the state legislature out of the former Cherokee territory. Rockville was also created in 1791 but changed to Pickensville in 1792. Pickensville became the district seat of Washington District which was then composed of Greenville and Pendleton Counties. In 1798, Washington District was divided into Greenville and Pendleton Districts. In 1828, Pendleton District was divided further with the lower portion becoming Anderson County and the upper becoming Pickens County named after Andrew Pickens.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Easley, 1823 to 1994

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1823Post officeThe Rock Spring post office opens
  3. 1833Post officeThe Rock Spring post office closes
  4. 1856Post officeThe Easley's Mills post office opens
  5. 1858Post officeThe Easley's Mills post office closes
  6. 1873
    FoundingEasley is established
  7. 1875Post officeThe Easley post office opens
  8. 1880In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - South Carolina (SC) - Pickens County - Easley - E…
  9. 20th century
  10. 1908In the archiveEasley - Easley Cotton Mills 2
  11. 1910In the archiveEasley - Depot
  12. 1920In the archiveEasley - Adkin's Swimming Pool
  13. 1940In the archiveGreetings from
  14. 1955Born hereStanley Morgan is born here
  15. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  16. 1973Born hereShannon Forrest is born here
  17. 1986Born hereWes Knight is born here
  18. 1994Born hereKyle Fisher is born here
By decade

Easley, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1920s6 items
1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - South Carolina (SC) - Pickens County - Easley - ED 39-26 to 3418801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - South Carolin…Easley - Easley Cotton Mills 2c. 1908Easley - Easley Cotton Mills 2PostcardEasley - Depotc. 1910Easley - DepotPostcardEasley - Easley Cotton Millsc. 1915Easley - Easley Cotton MillsPostcardEasley - Adkin's Swimming Poolc. 1920Easley - Adkin's Swimming PoolPostcardEasley - First Baptist Churchc. 1922Easley - First Baptist ChurchPostcard
1940s3 items
Greetings fromc. 1940Greetings fromPostcardEasley - Brice Fieldc. 1945Easley - Brice FieldPostcardEasley - U.S. Post Officec. 1945Easley - U.S. Post OfficePostcard
1950s–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
Today3 recent
EasleySCDowntown2016EasleySCDowntownEasleySC1900s2016EasleySC1900sOld Easley Mill2014Old Easley Mill
On the map

Easley on the map, 1957 to 1983

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

Easley on the 1957 USGS mapEasley on the 1983 USGS map1957Easley 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 Easley.

Every building

Easley, building by building, 1908

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 sheet.

Easley fire insurance map, 1908, sheet 11908Sheet 1 of 1
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.

1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - South Carolina (SC) - Pickens County - Easley - ED 39-26 to 34
Retake this view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - South Carolina (SC) - Pickens County - Easley - ED 39-26 to 34, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Easley

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
Sheriff Mill Complex
Sheriff Mill ComplexEasley High School AuditoriumEasley Mill
BuildingsDistricts
Sheriff Mill ComplexBuilding
Easley High School AuditoriumBuilding
Easley MillDistrict

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

People over time

Easley, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,0001880190019201940196019802000202022,921

Grew from 327 people in 1880 to 22,921 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Easley’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Arial1 historic placeB+Powdersville1 historic placeC

Questions about Easley’s history

What year was Easley founded?

In 1873, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Easley’s post office opened in 1823, and the census of 1880 counted 327 people here.

How does Easley rank for history?

Easley is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #74 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 Easley?

Three places: the Sheriff Mill Complex (listed 1987), the Easley High School Auditorium (1999) and the Easley Mill (2013).

How old are the homes in Easley?

5% of Easley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1987.

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 Wikimedia Commons (12), 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.