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History · Summit

Summit’s post office opened in 1889, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1944 on and the census since 1880.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Bernardgeorgeh · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Summit began

When was Summit founded?

1889

The Summit post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 57 in 18802020 census: 423137 years
Founding year: the first Summit post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Summit’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Summit are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Summit’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Summit’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Summit, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Summit yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Summit is a town in Lexington County, South Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Summit had a population of 423. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1889. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 402 to 423 (+5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Summit, 1889 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Summit post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1954Post officeThe Summit post office closes
By decade

Summit, decade by decade

Today1 recent
SCMap-doton-Summit2004SCMap-doton-Summit
On the map

Summit on the map, 1944 to 1986

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

Summit on the 1944 USGS mapSummit on the 1986 USGS map1944Gilbert 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 Summit.

People over time

Summit, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020423

Grew from 57 people in 1880 to 423 in 2020, 7 times over.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Summit

Nobody well known was born in Summit itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Iron & WineAmerican musician · b. 1974
Wrenn SchmidtAmerican actress · b. 1983
P
Paul BenjaminAmerican actor · b. 1938
Milledge Luke BonhamConfederate Army general · b. 1813
Andy DuncanAmerican writer · b. 1964
Alaina CoatesAmerican basketball player · b. 1995
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Summit had its own post office from 1889 to 1954.

Summit
1889–1954
18801950today
1cemetery inside Summit
Saint James

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

Questions about Summit’s history

What year was Summit founded?

The Summit post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (1), 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.