Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #111 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Most of Valley Falls was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 2000.
The Valley Falls post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lolo (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Valley Falls is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #111 of 169 in South Carolina. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Valley Falls’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Valley Falls’s history is told.
Valley Falls had its own post office from 1858 to 1891. Another post office, Lolo, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Valley Falls yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Valley Falls is a census-designated place (CDP) in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 6,299 at the 2010 census.
Its first post office opened in 1858. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 6,299 to 8,012 (+27%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings 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 Valley Falls. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Valley Falls.
Grew from 3,990 people in 2000 to 8,012 in 2020.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Valley Falls’ Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Valley Falls post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Valley Falls is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #111 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.
2% of Valley Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 2004.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.
