The Prosperity post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Frog Level (1832), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 357 in 18802020 census: 1,178175 years
How historic is Prosperity?
B
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Prosperity post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Prosperity’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Prosperity is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Prosperity’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 Prosperity’s 15.2 sits above most of its state (69% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Prosperity’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Before being named Prosperity, the area was called Frog Level due to its low-lying location and large numbers of frogs living in adjacent ponds. Captain Matthew Hall settled in the area in 1827, and established a store and post office in the early 1830s. The town expanded with the arrival of the railroad in the 1850s, and in later decades would profit from its location along two major rail lines. After a fire destroyed part of the town in 1873, the town's residents voted to change the name of the town to "Prosperity" after the Prosperity Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.
The Jacob Bedenbaugh House, Howard Junior High School, and Prosperity Cemetery are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Prosperity’s post office has been open since 1851. Another post office, Frog Level, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Frog Level
1832–1877
Prosperity
1851–today
18301930today
Gone or out of use
Prosperity High Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Prosperity
Prosperity
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Prosperity’s history
What year was Prosperity founded?
The Prosperity post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Prosperity rank for history?
Prosperity is more historic than 58% 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.
What is on the National Register in Prosperity?
Two places: the Howard Junior High School (listed 2006) and the Prosperity Cemetery (2014).
How old are the homes in Prosperity?
16% of Prosperity’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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