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C−History
History · North Beach

North Beach’s post office opened in 1909

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of North Beach was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1930.

1909first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From North Beach’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How North Beach began

When was North Beach founded?

1909

The North Beach post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1910.

First census: 107 in 19302020 census: 2,146117 years

How historic is North Beach?

C−

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first North Beach post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1910.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives North Beach’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, North Beach is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of North Beach’s overall grade.
Founding era1909, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19409.0% of homes (±4.2) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MD town 0.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 15%
NewerOlder

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so North Beach’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1910 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 →

What stands out about North Beach’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18926 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1970. Watch North Beach change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start North Beach’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLocomotive and tractor on display: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

North Beach on the map, 1892 to 1970

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of North Beach. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

North Beach on the 1892 USGS mapNorth Beach on the 1901 USGS mapNorth Beach on the 1910 USGS mapNorth Beach on the 1938 USGS mapNorth Beach on the 1953 USGS mapNorth Beach on the 1970 USGS map1892Prince Frederick sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of North Beach.

The story

How North Beach came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of North Beach.

Read it all →

The Town of North Beach was originally platted in 1900 and then re-platted in 1908. It was formally incorporated in 1910. It was established as strictly a residential town with ads running in local newspapers proclaiming North Beach as “Washington’s most popular salt water resort.”

Early visitors arrived to the town via steamboat, railroad, oxen carts, trolley cars and automobiles. For more than one hundred years, residents and visitors alike have enjoyed the town's numerous amenities including swimming, crabbing, boating, searching for sharks' teeth and fossils, gambling, fine local restaurants, pier, boardwalk, top-named bands, carnivals, parades, hunting, trapping, beauty contests, motor cycles, numerous festivals, and a farmer's market.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

North Beach, 1892 to 1921

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909Post officeThe North Beach post office opens
  5. 1921In the archiveLocomotive and tractor on display
By decade

North Beach, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s2 items
Locomotive and tractor on display1921Locomotive and tractor on displayLocomotive and tractor on display1921Locomotive and tractor on display
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today10 recent
St Anthony2019St AnthonyMosaic art on the boardwalk in [North] Beach, Maryland2018Mosaic art on the boardwalk in [North] Beach, MarylandBoardwalk scene in [North] Beach, Maryland2018Boardwalk scene in [North] Beach, MarylandBoardwalk scene in [North] Beach, Maryland2018Boardwalk scene in [North] Beach, MarylandColorful beach umbrellas in [North] Beach, Maryland2018Colorful beach umbrellas in [North] Beach, Maryland2016-07-20 16 38 07 View west-northwest across a tidal marsh from Maryland State Route 261 (Bay Avenue) in20162016-07-20 16 38 07 View west-northwest across a tida…2016-07-20 16 37 30 View northwest across a tidal marsh from Maryland State Route 261 (Bay Avenue) in20162016-07-20 16 37 30 View northwest across a tidal mar…2016-07-20 16 37 26 View west across a tidal marsh from Maryland State Route 261 (Bay Avenue) in20162016-07-20 16 37 26 View west across a tidal marsh fr…2016-07-20 16 37 13 View southeast down an unnamed tidal stream towards the Chesapeake Bay from Maryland State Route 26…20162016-07-20 16 37 13 View southeast down an unnamed ti…2016-07-20 16 34 29 View east across the Chesapeake Bay from the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Seventh Street in20162016-07-20 16 34 29 View east across the Chesapeake B…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Locomotive and tractor on display
Retake this viewLocomotive and tractor on display, 1921

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on North Beach’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

North Beach, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000194019601980200020202,146

Grew from 107 people in 1930 to 2,146 in 2020, more than tenfold.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on North Beach’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners

North Beach’s post office has been open since 1909.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Burnt Oak

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Chesapeake Beach1 historic placeC

Questions about North Beach’s history

What year was North Beach founded?

The North Beach post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1910.

How does North Beach rank for history?

North Beach is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in North Beach?

9% of North Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1991.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (4), 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.