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History · Norris

Norris’ post office opened in 1899

Most of Norris was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1910.

1899first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Norris’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Norris began

When was Norris founded?

1899

The Norris post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 180 in 19102020 census: 741127 years
Founding year: the first Norris post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Norris’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18884 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1991. Watch Norris change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Norris’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Norris’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewLower Gassaway Bridge, State Route 137,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Norris on the map, 1888 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Norris. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Norris on the 1888 USGS mapNorris on the 1894 USGS mapNorris on the 1980 USGS mapNorris on the 1991 USGS map1888Pickens sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Norris.

The story so far

Norris, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Norris yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Norris is a town in Pickens County, South Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Norris had a population of 741. It is part of the Greenville–Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1899. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 813 to 741 (-9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Norris, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Lower Gassaway Bridge, State Route 137, spanning Twelve Mile CreekDate?Lower Gassaway Bridge, State Route 137, spanning Twel…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lower Gassaway Bridge, State Route 137, spanning Twelve Mile Creek
Retake this viewLower Gassaway Bridge, State Route 137, spanning Twelve Mile Creek

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Norris’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Norris, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 903

Between 177 and 903 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Norris’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Norris

Nobody well known was born in Norris itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Chadwick BosemanAmerican actor · b. 1976
John EdwardsAmerican politician · b. 1953
Darline GrahamAmerican politician · b. 1964
Larry NanceAmerican basketball player · b. 1959
Thomas Jefferson RuskAmerican politician · b. 1803
Jim RiceAmerican baseball player · b. 1953

Questions about Norris’ history

What year was Norris founded?

The Norris post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 Library of Congress (1), 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.