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C+History
History · Apex

Apex’s post office opened in 1871, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #158 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Most of Apex was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2008. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 207 buildings. Below: the census since 1880.

1871first post office
4on the National Register
0.7%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Apex began

When was Apex founded?

1871

The Apex post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1873.

First census: 228 in 18802020 census: 58,780155 years

How historic is Apex?

C+

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Apex post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1873.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Apex’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Apex is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #158 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Apex’s overall grade.
Founding era1871, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.7% of homes (±0.4) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register4 listings, 212 historic buildings, 30.0 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 38%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 46%

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 Apex’s 30.0 sits near the middle of its state (64% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 212 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1873 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 Apex’s past

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

A historic districtThe Apex Historic District takes in 207 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Apex are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages9 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

4 listings protect 212 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
212
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Apex City Hall
Apex City Hall, built 1912Apex Union Depot, built 1914Apex Historic DistrictCalvin Wray Lawrence House
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Commercial Style1
Queen Anne1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
Neoclassical Revival1
Colonial Revival1
Apex City HallBuilt 1912
Apex Union DepotLate Victorian · Built 1914
Apex Historic DistrictCommercial Style
All 4 listings
Calvin Wray Lawrence HouseBuilding · listed 2008

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

Help out

Start Apex’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Apex’s post office has been open since 1871.

New Hill
1850–today
Apex
1871–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ClairmontDamont HillsFeltonvilleFriendshipIndian TrailIrongateJustice HeightsPinewood AcresShangri-La Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Clark and Sears Storelocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Apex
ApexSaint Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church Columbarium

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

The story

How Apex came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Apex.

Read it all →

In 1869, the Chatham Railroad, connecting Chatham County with Raleigh, was completed. At the highest point of the line, which railroad workers dubbed the "apex of the grade", existed a pond. Trains leaving out of Chatham would stop at the pond to replenish their water. A community began to grow around the stop. At the time, this community was known as "log pond". The name "log pond" almost certainly derives from the fact that the pond, which much resembled a small swamp, was covered in trees and vegetation, just like much of the surrounding area. People later called this area Apex, due to its position on the Chatham Railroad. The town of Apex was officially incorporated in 1873. As for the pond, it was eventually drained by culverts and ceased to exist by 1900.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Apex in 1922

Passages that mention Apex, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Of the smaller towns which girdle the County round, there is Cary, birthplace of the Pages, a small town before the War; Apex seven miles further, which was also a small village until the railroads made it a good sized country town; Garner grown up on the Southern Railroad, as Apex on the Seaboard;…
History of Wake County, North Carolina1922 · page 294Read the page →
Read the text

Of the smaller towns which girdle the County round, there is Cary, birthplace of the Pages, a small town before the War; Apex seven miles further, which was also a small village until the railroads made it a good sized country town; Garner grown up on the Southern Railroad, as Apex on the Seaboard; Zebulon and Wendell, sister towns with their

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Apex, 1850 to 2003

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe New Hill post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Apex post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1912BuiltApex City Hall is built
  6. 1914BuiltApex Union Depot is built
  7. 1943Born hereRosa Gill is born here
  8. 1949Born hereWill Wynn is born here
  9. 21st century
  10. 2003Born hereMatthew Edwards is born here
By decade

Apex, decade by decade

Today17 recent
Merchant & Farmers Bank, on Salem and Chatham streets in Apex, NC Picture 22016Merchant & Farmers Bank, on Salem and Chatham streets…Merchant & Farmers Bank, on Salem and Chatham streets in Apex, NC Picture 12016Merchant & Farmers Bank, on Salem and Chatham streets…Kelly Road Park2015Kelly Road ParkDowntown2014DowntownCSX Division point Oct 20132013CSX Division point Oct 2013Apex School, North Carolina2012Apex School, North CarolinaCommunity appearance study, Apex, North Carolina, page 50 (1969)2011Community appearance study, Apex, North Carolina, pag…Community appearance study, Apex, North Carolina, page 46 (1969)2011Community appearance study, Apex, North Carolina, pag…Community appearance study, Apex, North Carolina, page 12 (1969)2011Community appearance study, Apex, North Carolina, pag…C.B.D. improvement plan, Apex, North Carolina, page 6 (1966)2011C.B.D. improvement plan, Apex, North Carolina, page 6…Apex NC Town Hall (historic)2009Apex NC Town Hall (historic)Apex NC Town Hall (historic) entrance2009Apex NC Town Hall (historic) entranceUntitled photo2006Untitled photoUntitled photo2006Untitled photoUntitled photo2006Untitled photo2006 EQ chemical plant fire Apex North Carolina location20062006 EQ chemical plant fire Apex North Carolina locat…SI-ApexNCDowntown2004SI-ApexNCDowntown
People over time

Apex, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,0001880190019201940196019802000202058,780

Grew from 228 people in 1880 to 58,780 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Apex

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

See all →
M
Matthew EdwardsAmerican soccer player · b. 2003
Rosa GillAmerican politician · b. 1943
W
Will WynnAmerican football player · b. 1949
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Cary8 historic placesBHolly Springs2 historic placesC+

Questions about Apex’s history

What year was Apex founded?

The Apex post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1873.

How does Apex rank for history?

Apex is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #158 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 Apex?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Apex City Hall (listed 1985, the first), and 1 historic district, the Apex Historic District, with 207 contributing buildings. 212 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Apex?

0.7% of Apex’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 2008.

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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.