Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns · #44 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Most of Wellford was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: maps from 1938 on and the census since 1880.
Wellford dates its founding to 1840 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wellford is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #44 of 169 in South Carolina. Its National Register listings hold 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 Wellford’s 48.4 sits above most of its state (79% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 17 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Wellford’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1910 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wellford’s Wikipedia page.
Two other post offices 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Wellford.
Wellford was founded in 1840 by a man named Wellington, who was building a railroad in the area. He settled and named the town Wellington. When the town was chartered on December 9, 1882, the name was changed to Wellford.
New Hope Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wellford. 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 Wellford.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Wellford itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1840, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Wellford’s post office opened in 1833, and the census of 1880 counted 302 people here.
Wellford is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #44 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.
Two places: the New Hope Farm (listed 1999) and the Startex Finishing Company (2023).
4% of Wellford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 2002.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
2004
