Most of Estill was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listings are the John Lawton House and the Lawtonville Baptist Church. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1950 on.
Founding year: the first Estill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Estill’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Estill is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. 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 Estill’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 Estill’s 10.6 sits above most of its state (65% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 Estill’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town of Estill is located in the southern half of Hampton County. The town is named for Colonel John Holbrook Estill. Estill was formed in 1900 when the railroad, later Seaboard Air Line Railroad, needed a rail line between Augusta, Georgia and Savannah, Georgia. Upon construction of the rail line, the new town of Estill was incorporated in 1905.
The John Lawton House and Lawtonville Baptist Church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Federal Correctional Institution, Estill is located near the town.
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.
The Estill post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Estill rank for history?
Estill is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. 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 Estill?
Two places: the John Lawton House (listed 2009) and the Lawtonville Baptist Church (2012).
How old are the homes in Estill?
3% of Estill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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