The story
Read it all →How Tatum came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Tatum.
The Manship Farmstead was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Tatum
Tatum’s post office opened in 1907, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1972 on, and the census since 1900.
1907first post office
1on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Quick answers
How Tatum began
When was Tatum founded?
1907
The Tatum post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Hamer (1885) and Tatum Station (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 200 in 19002020 census: 76119 years
Founding year: the first Tatum post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Tatum’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Tatum’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tatum’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Tatum’s post office has been open since 1907. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamer
Tatum Station
Tatum
18801950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Tatum in 1897
Passages that mention Tatum, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A History of Marlboro County1897 · page 239Read the page →
Read the text
them in spiritual things. His last sermon there was from the text found in i Samuel, 30:24. In the afternoon of the same day he preached his last sermon to the church at Tatum, from John 12: 19. Tatum is a new church, which he was instrumental in founding, and ta which he preached till his death, about seven years,, preaching for about two years in the academy and the Presbyterian church, till the Tatum Baptist church was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A History of Marlboro County1897 · page 234Read the page →
Read the text
The Baptist church at Tatum was organized a few years ago with members almost exclusively from Beaverdam. Tatum church was dedicated April 3d, 1892.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Tatum, 1850 to 1972
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1850
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - South Carolina - Marlboro County - ED 35-… - 1873
Born hereArchibald G. McAlister is born here - 1885Post officeThe Hamer post office opens
- 1886Post officeThe Hamer post office closes
- 1886Post officeThe Tatum Station post office opens
- 20th century
- 1907Post officeThe Tatum Station post office closes
- 1907Post officeThe Tatum post office opens
- 1972
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Tatum, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Today2 recent
2017
2004On the map
Tatum on the map, 1972 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tatum. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1972Mc Coll sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Tatum.
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 view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - South Carolina - Marlboro County - ED 35-1, ED 35-2, ED 35-3, ED 35-4, …, 1850
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Tatum’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 listing protects 7 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Manship Farmstead
Districts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Tatum, census by census
Between 49 and 225 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tatum’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Tatum’s history
What year was Tatum founded?
The Tatum post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Tatum?
One place: the Manship Farmstead (listed 1997).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.