Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of McCormick was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1900.
The McCormick post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Dorn's Gold Mines (1857), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McCormick is more historic than 55% 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 McCormick’s 39.9 sits above most of its state (76% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 McCormick’s history is told.
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 McCormick.
The Dorn Gold Mine, Dorn's Flour and Grist Mill, Joseph Jennings Dorn House, Eden Hall, Farmer's Bank, John Albert Gibert M.D. House, Otway Henderson House, Hotel Keturah, McCormick County Courthouse, McCormick Train Station, and M.L.B. Sturkey House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of McCormick. 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 McCormick.
Between 237 and 2,783 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on McCormick’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Another post office, Dorn's Gold Mines, 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 McCormick post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
McCormick is more historic than 55% 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.
9 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Dorn's Flour and Grist Mill (listed 1976, the first). 10 historic buildings in all.
9% of McCormick’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (7), Wikidata (8), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2023
2020
2012
2011
2011
2003
2003