Summerville’s post office opened in 1835, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #33 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Most of Summerville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Middleton Place, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 701 buildings between them. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Summerville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1847.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Summerville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Summerville is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #33 of 169 in South Carolina. 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 Summerville’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 Summerville’s 136 sits above most of its state (87% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 701 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 (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1847 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 Summerville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first settlement in Summerville began after the American Revolutionary War; it was called Pineland Village in 1785. Development in the area resulted from plantation owners who resided in the Charleston area and came to Summerville to escape seasonal insects and their attendant swamp fever. The founder, John Micheal Guy, was born in Charleston and decided to establish the town based on the aforementioned reasons.
Summerville became an official town on December 17, 1847. That year, the town passed a law against cutting down trees, the nation's first such law, and a $25 fine ($863.80 in 2025) was issued to anyone who did so without permission. The town's official seal reads "Sacra Pinus Esto (The Pine is Sacred)".
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 Summerville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1920Summerville 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 Summerville.
Every building
Summerville, building by building, 1895–1923
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.
1895Sheet 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 viewA family ride at Summerville, S.C, c. 1861
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Summerville’s page.
The Summerville post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1847.
How does Summerville rank for history?
Summerville is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #33 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 Summerville?
5 listings: 2 historic districts, the Middleton Place and the Summerville Historic District, with 701 contributing buildings, 2 sites, and 1 structure. 701 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Summerville?
3% of Summerville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 2001.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
★ Landmark
c. 1861
1898
1904
1904
1906
1906![Main St. [Street]](https://images.townratings.com/story/15831/b5715c76fe53dc1dd1a3-s.jpg)
1906
