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History · Summerton

Summerton’s post office opened in 1881, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1900.

1881first post office
4on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Summerton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Summerton began

When was Summerton founded?

1881

The Summerton post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 236 in 19002020 census: 814145 years
Founding year: the first Summerton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Summerton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1910–1939.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,504 in 1960; 814 people lived here in 2020.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · By decade

Summerton, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1930s18 items
Summerton - Cotton Platformc. 1910Summerton - Cotton PlatformPostcardSummerton - The Jame's Residencec. 1912Summerton - The Jame's ResidencePostcardChildren of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase borrower1939Children of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase borrowerChildren of the Oliver family, tenant purchase borrowers1939Children of the Oliver family, tenant purchase borrow…Old house of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client. Summerton, South Carolina1939Old house of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client…Old house of Frederick Oliver and family, tenant purchase clients. Summerton, South Carolina1939Old house of Frederick Oliver and family, tenant purc…New privy on farm of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client. Summerton, South Carolina1939New privy on farm of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchas…New mules and barn of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client. Summerton, South Carolina1939New mules and barn of Frederick Oliver, tenant purcha…New mules and barn of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client1939New mules and barn of Frederick Oliver, tenant purcha…Children of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase borrower, picking squares in cotton field. Summerton, South Carolina1939Children of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase borrowe…Children of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client, picking squares in cotton field. Summerton, South Carolina1939Children of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client,…Wife of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client, with her canned goods in smokehouse. Summerton, South Carolina1939Wife of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client, wit…Children of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client, feeding hogs on their farm near Summerton, South Carolina1939Children of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client,…Daughter of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client, bringing canned goods in from smokehouse. Summerton, South Caroli…1939Daughter of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client,…Children of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client, sweeping yard in front of new home. Summerton, South Carolina1939Children of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client,…Daughter of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client, sewing in living room of new home. Summerton, South Carolina1939Daughter of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client,…Wife of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client, bringing canned goods from smokehouse. Note driven well. Summerton, S…1939Wife of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client, bri…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Children of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase borrower, picking squares in cotton …1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Children of Fred…
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
People over time

Summerton, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,504

Peaked at 1,504 in 1960; 814 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

On the National Register

4 historic places in Summerton

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
10
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
Summerton High School
Summerton High SchoolSenn's Grist Mill-Blacksmith Shop-Orange Crush Bottling PlantJames BuildingScott’s Branch High School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Summerton High SchoolLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals
Senn's Grist Mill-Blacksmith Shop-Orange Crush Bottling PlantBuilding
James BuildingLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements
All 4 listings
Scott’s Branch High SchoolBuilding · listed 2023

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

The story

How Summerton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Summerton.

Read it all →

Summerton's history began circa 1830 to 1840. Plantation owners made their move inward to Summerton to escape from the mosquitos along the Santee River. It was thought of as a health resort and safe retreat from the "malaria" associated with the swamp. The town was officially chartered by the South Carolina legislative delegation on Christmas Eve, 1889.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Summerton, 1863 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1863Born hereEllison Adger Smyth Jr. is born here
  3. 1881Post officeThe Summerton post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910In the archiveSummerton - Cotton Platform
  6. 1931Born hereBertie Bowman is born here
  7. 1939In the archiveChildren of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase borrower
  8. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,504
  9. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Summerton on the map, 1971 to 1990

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

Summerton on the 1971 USGS mapSummerton on the 1986 USGS mapSummerton on the 1990 USGS map1971Summerton sheet · 1:62,500

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

Every building

Summerton, building by building, 1916

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 sheet.

Summerton fire insurance map, 1916, sheet 11916Sheet 1 of 3
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.

Summerton - Cotton Platform
Retake this viewSummerton - Cotton Platform, c. 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Summerton’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Summerton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Bertie BowmanAmerican congressional staffer · b. 1931
E
Ellison Adger Smyth Jr.American professor, entomologist, ornithologist… · b. 1863
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Summerton’s post office has been open since 1881.

Gone or out of use
Chapel Hill ChurchchurchJames ChapelchurchOld Evening Light ChurchchurchSummerton Graded SchoolschoolSummerton High Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Summerton
Evergreen

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

Help out

Finish Summerton’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSummerton - Cotton Platform: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Summerton’s history

What year was Summerton founded?

The Summerton post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Summerton?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Summerton High School (listed 1994, the first). 10 historic buildings in all.

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 (2), the Library of Congress (16), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.