The story
Read it all →How Ridgeville came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ridgeville.
The Cypress Methodist Camp Ground was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Ridgeville
Ridgeville’s post office opened in 1844, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Ridgeville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Cypress Methodist Camp Ground. Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1880.
1844first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Ridgeville began
When was Ridgeville founded?
1844
The Ridgeville post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 250 in 18802020 census: 1,672182 years
How historic is Ridgeville?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ridgeville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ridgeville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ridgeville is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ridgeville’s overall grade.
Founding era1844, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19405.1% of homes (±3.8) · typical SC town 3.5% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 35 historic buildings, 201 per 10,000 residents · typical SC town 3.2 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 75%
NewerOlder
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 Ridgeville’s 201 sits above most of its state (92% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 35 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 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 Ridgeville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Ridgeville’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ridgeville’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Ridgeville on the map, 1920 to 1979
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ridgeville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1920Ridgeville sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ridgeville.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the National Register
1 historic place in Ridgeville
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
35
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Cypress Methodist Camp Ground
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Ridgeville, census by census
Between 212 and 1,979 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ridgeville’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Ridgeville
Nobody well known was born in Ridgeville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Ridgeville’s post office has been open since 1844.
Gone or out of use
Campbell Thicket Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Ridgeville’s history
What year was Ridgeville founded?
The Ridgeville post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ridgeville rank for history?
Ridgeville is more historic than 75% 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 Ridgeville?
One place: the Cypress Methodist Camp Ground (listed 1978).
How old are the homes in Ridgeville?
5% of Ridgeville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1977.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From 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.