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Pawleys beachPhoto: Phoebe · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Pawleys Island

Pawleys Island’s post office opened in 1917, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 12 buildings. Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1990.

1917first post office
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Pawleys Island began

When was Pawleys Island founded?

1917

The Pawleys Island post office opened in 1917, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 176 in 19902020 census: 130109 years
Founding year: the first Pawleys Island post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Pawleys Island’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 Pawleys Island are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pawleys Island’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Pawleys Island came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pawleys Island.

Read it all →

The earliest known inhabitants of the Pawleys Island area were the Waccamaw and Winyah people, two Native American tribes whose history dates back more than 10,000 years. The ancient Waccamaw lived in communities along the Waccamaw River, an area stretching from Lake Waccamaw in North Carolina to Winyah Bay in Georgetown, South Carolina. Archaeological sites containing Waccamaw shell 'middens' (mounds) indicate that clams and oysters were popular foods. The Waccamaw were successful farmers, raising a variety of crops, and were skilled at domesticating animals including deer, chickens, ducks, geese, and other fowl.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Pawleys Island, 1845 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1845Born hereElizabeth W. Allston Pringle is born here
  3. 20th century
  4. 1917Post officeThe Pawleys Island post office opens
  5. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Pawleys Island, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Scene on marshy Pawley's Island, a barrier island in Georgetown County, South Carolina2017Scene on marshy Pawley's Island, a barrier island in …Scene on marshy Pawley's Island, a barrier island in Georgetown County, South Carolina2017Scene on marshy Pawley's Island, a barrier island in …Scene on marshy Pawley's Island, a barrier island in Georgetown County, South Carolina2017Scene on marshy Pawley's Island, a barrier island in …Town Hall - Pawleys Island, South Carolina (18 July 2006)2017Town Hall - Pawleys Island, South Carolina (18 July 2…Still Standing (pre-Hurricane Hugo home, Pawleys Island, South Carolina - 18 July 2006)2017Still Standing (pre-Hurricane Hugo home, Pawleys Isla…Pawleys Island SC clouds 022017Pawleys Island SC clouds 02Pawleys Island SC clouds 012017Pawleys Island SC clouds 01Garden (Pawleys Island, South Carolina - 18 July 2006)2017Garden (Pawleys Island, South Carolina - 18 July 2006)SC Guard douses dangerous flames during training exercise 150310-Z-WS267-0012015SC Guard douses dangerous flames during training exer…White Wooden Building (Pexels 53610)2014White Wooden Building (Pexels 53610)Former rice paddy2013Former rice paddyAll Saints' Episcopal Church, Waccamaw2012All Saints' Episcopal Church, Waccamaw
On the map

Pawleys Island on the map, 1942 to 1986

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

Pawleys Island on the 1942 USGS mapPawleys Island on the 1973 USGS mapPawleys Island on the 1986 USGS map1942Magnolia Beach sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 listing protects 12 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
12
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Pawleys Island Historic District
Pawleys Island Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Pawleys Island Historic DistrictVernacular

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

People over time

Pawleys Island, census by census

010020002020Peak: 176

Between 103 and 176 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Birds Nest
Gone or out of use
Pawleys Island Post Officepost office

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Pawleys Island’s history

What year was Pawleys Island founded?

The Pawleys Island post office opened in 1917, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Pawleys Island?

One place: the Pawleys Island Historic District (listed 1972).

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 (9), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.