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History · Elko

Elko’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Elko. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Elko is a town in Barnwell County, South Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Elko had a population of 140.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 193 to 140 (-27%). Half of its homes were built before 1978.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Elko yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Elko’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elko’s history is told.

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people from Elko

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JTJean Crouch ThurmondNotable
By decade

Elko, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Elko is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Elko has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Ashley-Willis House in Williston, 3.1 miles away.

Elko and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Elko. Tap a dot.
Ashley-Willis HouseBethlehem Baptist ChurchBanksia HallOld Presbyterian ChurchChurch of the Holy Apostles RectoryChurch of the Holy Apostles, Episcopal

Closest to Elko

Ashley-Willis HouseWilliston · Built 18333.1miBethlehem Baptist ChurchBarnwell · Building9.4miBanksia HallBarnwell · Building9.4miOld Presbyterian ChurchBarnwell · Building9.6miChurch of the Holy Apostles RectoryBarnwell · Building9.8mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Ashley-Willis House’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Elko?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Elko’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Williston📜 Blackville📜 Barnwell📜 Springfield
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Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Elko, SCView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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