On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Parker is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #46 of 169 in South Carolina. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Parker’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 Parker’s 6.2 sits near the middle of its state (57% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Parker’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Brandon, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrandonCedar Lane GardensHughes HeightsLockwood HeightsMansfield ParkMonaghanPoinsettRiversideView Point PlaceWest GreenvilleWestvilleWoodbriarWoodside
Gone or out of use
Poinsett Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Parker
Beth IsraelGraceland Cemetery West
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Parker’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Parker’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Parker yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Parker is a census-designated place (CDP) in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 11,431 at the 2010 census, up from 10,760 in 2000. It is part of the Greenville–Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 11,431 to 13,407 (+17%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Parker, 1900 to 1938
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Parker is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #46 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 Parker?
One place: the Brandon Mill (listed 2014).
How old are the homes in Parker?
12% of Parker’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (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.
