Chance’s post office opened in 1882, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listings are the Ida May and the Rock Creek Methodist Episcopal Church.
How Chance began
When was Chance founded?
The Chance post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Back Creek (1840) and Rock Creek (1849), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2 historic places in Chance
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Architectural styles listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Chance had its own post office from 1882 to 1998. 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).
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Chance’s history
What year was Chance founded?
The Chance post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Chance?
Two places: the Ida May (listed 1985) and the Rock Creek Methodist Episcopal Church (1990).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Where this page comes from
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.