Union dates to 1749, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #2 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
18 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 181 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1803.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Union’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Union is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #2 of 169 in South Carolina. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Union’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 Union’s 246 sits above most of its state (94% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 199 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1749.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Union’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Both the city of Union and Union County received their names from the old Union Church that stood a short distance from the Monarch Mill. When it was first founded, the city of Union was known as Unionville; later the name was shortened to Union. The county's first white settlers came from Virginia in 1749. Union County's population grew the fastest between 1762 and the start of the Revolutionary War. Settlers built log cabins and cultivated tobacco, flax, corn and wheat. Union was one of the first towns settled in the area and was untouched during the Civil War because the Broad River flooded and turned Sherman’s troops away from the town.
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 Union. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1971Union East 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 Union.
Every building
Union, building by building, 1884–1917
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 viewUnion - Modern Stores on Main Street, c. 1945
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Union’s page.
In 1749, according to Wikidata. Union’s post office opened in 1803, and the census of 1850 counted 554 people here.
How does Union rank for history?
Union is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #2 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 Union?
18 listings: 15 buildings, among them the Herndon Terrace (listed 1970, the first), and 3 historic districts, the South Street-South Church Street Historic District, the East Main Street-Douglass Heights Historic District and the Union Downtown Historic District, with 181 contributing buildings. 199 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Union?
21% of Union’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (15), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (18), 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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