Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Hickory Grove was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the St. James Rosenwald School. Below: maps from 1907 on and the census since 1890.
The Hickory Grove post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hickory (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Hickory Grove’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hickory Grove yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hickory Grove is a town in York County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 449 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1831. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 440 to 449 (+2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hickory Grove. 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 Hickory Grove.
The 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.
Grew from 134 people in 1890 to 449 in 2020, 3 times over.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hickory Grove’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Hickory Grove’s post office has been open since 1831. Another post office, Hickory, 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).
The Hickory Grove post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the St. James Rosenwald School (listed 2026).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
