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BHistory
History · Aberdeen

Aberdeen’s post office opened in 1887, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #116 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Most of Aberdeen was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 101 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1924 on, and the census since 1890.

1887first post office
4on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Aberdeen’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Aberdeen began

When was Aberdeen founded?

1887

The Aberdeen post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 227 in 18902020 census: 8,516139 years

How historic is Aberdeen?

B

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Aberdeen’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Aberdeen is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #116 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Aberdeen’s overall grade.
Founding era1887, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19408.1% of homes (±5.0) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register4 listings, 113 historic buildings, 122 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 58%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 60%

North Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical North Carolina town has 12.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Aberdeen’s 122 sits above most of its state (79% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 113 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Aberdeen’s past

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

A historic districtThe Aberdeen Historic District takes in 101 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

4 listings protect 113 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
113
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Bethesda Presbyterian Church
Bethesda Presbyterian ChurchMalcolm Blue FarmAberdeen Historic DistrictJohn Blue House
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Federal1
Greek Revival1
Classical Revival1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
Queen Anne1
Bethesda Presbyterian ChurchVernacular
Malcolm Blue FarmFederal
Aberdeen Historic DistrictClassical Revival
All 4 listings
John Blue HouseBuilding · listed 1982

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Aberdeen came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Aberdeen.

Read it all →

Scottish emigrants were the first Europeans to settle the area, beginning in 1745. They were drawn to the area by bountiful hunting and virgin land, and they founded the communities of Bethesda and Blue's Crossing by the late 18th Century.

During the American Revolution, the people of what is now Aberdeen were generally Loyalists. There were a few small skirmishes in the vicinity of Aberdeen, most notably the one at Ray's Mill Creek, in which Colonel Philip Alston of the House in the Horseshoe, who was in pursuit of Loyalist Colonel David Fanning, savagely beat Kenneth Black, a local who had acted as Fanning's guide through the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Aberdeen, 1887 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Aberdeen post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1914In the archiveGraded school
  5. 1923In the archiveAllison Francis Page, 1824-1899
  6. 1939Born hereBennie McRae is born here
  7. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1961Born hereJames L. Boles, Jr. is born here
  9. 1980In the archiveOld Seaboard Coast Line and Norfolk Southern train station in
By decade

Aberdeen, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1920s4 items
Graded school1914Graded schoolScean [Scene] at Aberdeen, N.C1914Scean [Scene] at Aberdeen, N.CM.E. Church1914M.E. ChurchAllison Francis Page, 1824-18991923Allison Francis Page, 1824-1899
1930s–1970snothing 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
1980s2 items
Old Seaboard Coast Line and Norfolk Southern train station in1980Old Seaboard Coast Line and Norfolk Southern train st…Old Seaboard Coast Line and Norfolk Southern train station1980Old Seaboard Coast Line and Norfolk Southern train st…
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
Today6 recent
Henry Allison Page Sr.'s Residence, Aberdeen, N.C2009Henry Allison Page Sr.'s Residence, Aberdeen, N.CAberdeen Rockfish locomotive2008Aberdeen Rockfish locomotiveHistoric postcard of Main Street, Aberdeen, N.C2008Historic postcard of Main Street, Aberdeen, N.CPostcardPhoto of Aberdeen, N.C2007Photo of Aberdeen, N.CAberdeen Train Station, North Carolina2007Aberdeen Train Station, North CarolinaABERDEEN HISTORIC DISTRICT, MOORE COUNTY, NC2007ABERDEEN HISTORIC DISTRICT, MOORE COUNTY, NC
On the map

Aberdeen on the map, 1948 to 1984

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

Aberdeen on the 1948 USGS mapAberdeen on the 1950 USGS mapAberdeen on the 1976 USGS mapAberdeen on the 1984 USGS map1948Southern Pines 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 Aberdeen.

Every building

Aberdeen, building by building, 1924

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Aberdeen fire insurance map, 1924, sheet 11924Sheet 1 of 4
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Graded school
Retake this viewGraded school, 1914

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Aberdeen, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00019001920194019601980200020208,516

Grew from 227 people in 1890 to 8,516 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Aberdeen

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Bennie McRaeAmerican football player · b. 1939
James L. Boles, Jr.American politician · b. 1961
Help out

Finish Aberdeen’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGraded school: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Southern Pines7 historic placesBPinehurst3 historic placesC+

Questions about Aberdeen’s history

What year was Aberdeen founded?

The Aberdeen post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Aberdeen rank for history?

Aberdeen is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #116 of 290 in North 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.

What is on the National Register in Aberdeen?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Bethesda Presbyterian Church (listed 1979, the first), and 1 historic district, the Aberdeen Historic District, with 101 contributing buildings. 113 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Aberdeen?

8% of Aberdeen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 2003.

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), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.