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History · Norway

Norway dates to 1891, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Norway was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Its Register listing is the Willow Consolidated High School. Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1900.

1891founded
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Norway began

When was Norway founded?

1891

Norway dates its founding to 1891 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 218 in 19002020 census: 289135 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1892.The full story ↓

What stands out about Norway’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Norway are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 579 in 1970; 289 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19203 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1982. Watch Norway change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Norway’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Norway, census by census

01002003004005006001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 579

Peaked at 579 in 1970; 289 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

On the map

Norway on the map, 1920 to 1982

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

Norway on the 1920 USGS mapNorway on the 1943 USGS mapNorway on the 1982 USGS map1920Bamberg sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story

How Norway came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Norway.

Read it all →

Norway was laid out in 1891 when the railroad was extended to that point. A post office has been in operation at Norway since 1892. The town was so named in order to fit with the railroad's "Scandinavian" naming scheme; other such examples include Sweden, Denmark and Finland, South Carolina.

The Willow Consolidated High School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

ChaptersRace riot

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Norway, 1891 to 1970

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891
    FoundingNorway is established
  3. 1892Post officeThe Norway post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1920On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 579
By decade

Norway, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Norway Town Hall2014Norway Town HallNorwayWaterTower2011NorwayWaterTowerSCMap-doton-Norway2004SCMap-doton-Norway
On the National Register

1 historic place in Norway

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2006
Willow Consolidated High School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Willow Consolidated High SchoolLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Questions about Norway’s history

What year was Norway founded?

In 1891, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Norway’s post office opened in 1892, and the census of 1900 counted 218 people here.

What is on the National Register in Norway?

One place: the Willow Consolidated High School (listed 2006).

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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.