Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns · #47 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Most of Saluda was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listings are the Whitehall and the Saluda Theatre. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1915 on and the census since 1900.
The Saluda post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Saluda is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #47 of 169 in South Carolina. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Saluda’s 6.5 sits near the middle of its state (59% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Saluda’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Saluda.
Prior to the formation of Saluda County in 1896, the town was named Redbank and was renamed to match the county it became the seat of.
The Bonham House, Butler Family Cemetery, Marsh-Johnson House, Old Strother Place, Saluda Old Town Site, Saluda Theatre, Stevens-Dorn Farmstead, and Whitehall are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Saluda’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 289 and 3,565 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Saluda’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Saluda post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Saluda is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #47 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.
Two places: the Whitehall (listed 1980) and the Saluda Theatre (1993).
8% of Saluda’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 1987.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), 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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