Kingstree’s post office opened in 1829, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns · #21 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 49 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Kingstree post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kingstree’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kingstree is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #21 of 169 in South Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kingstree’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 Kingstree’s 169 sits above most of its state (89% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 53 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 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 Kingstree’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Kingstree, building by building, 1908–1920
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 year, then a sheet.
The original town was laid out as Williamsburg by the Lords Proprietors in colonial times, but a lone, unusually large white pine was found along the Black River. Since tall white pines were ideal for use as masts for ships, it was claimed by the Crown on behalf of the king. The broad arrow mark was carved into the tree to prevent any colonists from cutting it. Though white pines are native to the Appalachians as far south as Georgia, it is the only tree of King George’s ever found in the South. Over time, the county kept the name Williamsburg, but the county seat became known as the King's Tree. In 1867 Twenty-two African-American prisoners were killed in a fire at the jail.
platted “Town of Williamsburgh”, and there built the Wil¬ liamsburg Meeting House. On this spot, the congregation worshipped continuously until 1890, when the church was moved to Academy Street in the town of Kingstree. The lot was then devoted exclusivelv to the use of the white people of the vicinity as a burying ground.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
There are now three buildings standing in Kingstree that were erected prior to 1830, the Court House, the Nelson house, and a part of the Harper home. In 1820, Joseph Scott and William Reed established a sawmill on “The Branch” in the northeastern part of the present limits of the town of Kingstree. This was the first saw¬ mill established in Williamsburg. Up to that time all lumber had been made by whip saw, worked by man
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Kingstree, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1820s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Kingstree post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kingstree rank for history?
Kingstree is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #21 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 Kingstree?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Thorntree (listed 1970, the first), and 1 historic district, the Kingstree Historic District, with 49 contributing buildings. 53 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Kingstree?
11% of Kingstree’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 1974.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1825
1867
1867
