Spartanburg’s post office opened in 1804, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #11 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
28 places in town are on the National Register, among them six historic districts with 633 buildings between them. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1850.
From Spartanburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Spartanburg began
When was Spartanburg founded?
1804
The Spartanburg post office opened in 1804, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1831. Another post office, Arkwright (1898), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,176 in 18502020 census: 38,732222 years
How historic is Spartanburg?
A
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Spartanburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1831.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Spartanburg’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spartanburg is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #11 of 169 in South Carolina. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spartanburg’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 Spartanburg’s 170 sits above most of its state (90% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 660 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% 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 (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1831 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Spartanburg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Alexander SchoolschoolCamp WadsworthmilitaryHighland SchoolschoolNew Zion ChurchchurchOakland Avenue SchoolschoolSaint Johns High SchoolschoolTemple Methodist ChurchchurchWalkers Memorial Methodist ChurchchurchWest End Schoolschool
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Spartanburg
Episcopal Church of the AdventFirst Presbyterian Church ColumbariumFriendship Baptist ChurchGreenlawn Memorial GardensMagnolia StreetOakwoodOld CityPatterson FamilySeay
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Spartanburg was formed in 1785 after a deal was made with the Cherokee in 1753, and was named after a local militia in the American Revolutionary War, the Spartan Regiment. The regiment, commanded by Andrew Pickens, participated in the Battle of Cowpens. In 1831, Spartanburg was incorporated, later becoming known as the "Hub City"; railroad lines radiated from it like wheel spokes.
Spartanburg became a center of textile manufacturing in the late 19th century, with around 40 textile mills established through the early 1900s.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spartanburg. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1949Spartanburg 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 Spartanburg.
Every building
Spartanburg, building by building, 1884–1912
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewWofford College, 1905
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Spartanburg’s page.
The Spartanburg post office opened in 1804, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1831.
How does Spartanburg rank for history?
Spartanburg is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #11 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 Spartanburg?
28 listings: 21 buildings, among them the Evins-Bivings House (listed 1970, the first), 6 historic districts with 633 contributing buildings, and 1 object. 660 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Spartanburg?
12% of Spartanburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (28), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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