The Statewide Survey of Historic Properties is managed by the South Carolina SHPO. A historic resources survey is the process of systematically identifying historic properties within the boundaries of a specific geographical area, documenting their location and physical characteristics, and evaluating their significance within an appropriate historical context. Survey forms and images record properties of historic age (usually fifty or more years old) and may provide a determination on whether the property is eligible for listing in the National Register. Surveys document properties, but they do not provide any type of historic designation.
The survey records in SCHPR are not comprehensive. Most of the currently available survey forms are from municipal and county surveys from the 1970s, 1980s, and 2010s. We are working on adding additional surveys to the agency’s electronic records platforms. SCHPR does not include archaeological surveys or review and compliance surveys. Select born digital review and compliance surveys are available on the South Carolina Electronic Record Archive (SCERA) . Use the Survey Finding Aid to locate surveys that may be accessible through SCHPR or SCERA. The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA) maintains information on archaeological sites in the state. Many municipal, county, and thematic survey reports, which may include inventories of surveyed properties, are available online directly from the SHPO’s website.
Keyword search will search the readable text of both landing pages and digitized documents. If you are searching for a specific phrase, such as high school, put that phrase within double quotation marks (e.g. “high school”).
You may input data in multiple fields at once to narrow your search.
Data in these records may use abbreviations (Rd. for Road, N for North), initials (W.W. Fennell for William Wallace Fennell), or nicknames (Will or Willie for William). Names may also be written last name, first name (Wallace, William).
Do not put spaces between hyphens when searching a range of years (use 1865-1900 not 1865 – 1900).
You may manually input a year or range of years (2016 or 2016-2026) in Date Surveyed to see all available records for properties surveyed in that year or date range.
You may also use the AND, OR, NOT menu to refine your search. AND: When you want to search for more than one term. The results of the search will only have both terms. OR: When you want to search by multiple words but receive results with any of those words represented. NOT: When you want results not described by a particular word. For example, you may want to search for all farms but not any associated with tobacco.
You may also use the AND, OR, NOT menu to refine your search. AND: When you want to search for more than one term. The results of the search will only have both terms. OR: When you want to search by multiple words but recieve results with any of those words represented. NOT: When you want results not described by a particular word. For example, you may want to search for all farms but not any associated with tobacco.