The story
Read it all →How Fairfax came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Fairfax.
The Virginia Durant Young House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Fairfax
Fairfax’s post office opened in 1891, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Fairfax was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listing is the Virginia Durant Young House. Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1900.
1891first post office
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
How Fairfax began
When was Fairfax founded?
1891
The Fairfax post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 301 in 19002020 census: 1,505135 years
How historic is Fairfax?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fairfax post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fairfax’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fairfax is more historic than 36% 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 Fairfax’s overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.6% of homes (±3.7) · typical SC town 3.5% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 10.3 per 10,000 residents · typical SC town 3.2 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 36%
NewerOlder
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 Fairfax’s 10.3 sits near the middle of its state (65% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 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 Fairfax’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Fairfax’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairfax’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Fairfax, census by census
Peaked at 3,206 in 2000; 1,505 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fairfax’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Fairfax on the map, 1918 to 1988
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fairfax. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Varnville sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fairfax.
Timeline
Fairfax, 1882 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1882Born hereG. Lloyd Preacher is born here
- 1891Post officeThe Fairfax post office opens
- 20th century
- 1918
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1938Born hereVertamae Grosvenor is born here
- 21st century
- 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 3,206
By decade
Fairfax, decade by decade
2017
2004On the National Register
1 historic place in Fairfax
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Virginia Durant Young House
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Fairfax
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Fairfax’s history
What year was Fairfax founded?
The Fairfax post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fairfax rank for history?
Fairfax is more historic than 36% 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 Fairfax?
One place: the Virginia Durant Young House (listed 1983).
How old are the homes in Fairfax?
4% of Fairfax’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 1979.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.