Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 54 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1969 on, and the census since 1900.
Kershaw dates its founding to 1888 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kershaw is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Kershaw’s 266 sits above most of its state (95% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 60 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Kershaw.
The Dr. William Columbus Cauthen House, Clinton AME Zion Church, East Richland Street-East Church Street Historic District, Kershaw Depot, Matson Street Historic District, and Unity Baptist Church, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Uriah Plantation is also located in the town.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveBenton HotelBuiltClinton AME Zion Church is built
In the archiveKershaw - The Bank of
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kershaw.
1969Kershaw sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kershaw.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Kershaw’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 950 and 1,993 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kershaw’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1888, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1900 counted 1,002 people here.
Kershaw is more historic than 74% 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.
6 listings: 4 buildings and 2 historic districts, the East Richland Street-East Church Street Historic District and the Matson Street Historic District, with 54 contributing buildings. 60 historic buildings in all.
18% of Kershaw’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1963.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
1908
1909
1909
2004