More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #96 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Most of Loris was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Loris post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Loris’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Loris is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #96 of 169 in South Carolina. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Loris’ 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 Loris’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±5.3 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 Loris’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Loris was founded on December 7, 1887, as a railroad town, originally serving the Wilmington, Chadbourn, and Conway Railroad. Loris was later incorporated on July 26, 1902. The first brick building, which housed the Bank of Loris, opened in 1907. Telephone lines to Conway were first used in 1909. The town grew steadily in the 1920s and 1930s; a high school opened in 1920, and by the 1930s, Loris had around 1,000 residents. In the 1970s, Loris legally became a city.
The Loris post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Loris rank for history?
Loris is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #96 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.
How old are the homes in Loris?
7% of Loris’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 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.
