Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Palmer-Marsh House, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1880.
Bath dates its founding to 1705 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bath’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltSt. Thomas Episcopal Church is built
BuiltPalmer-Marsh House is built
BuiltBonner House is built
In the archiveThe Old Colonial House, the Governor's Mansion in olden days. Supposed to have been built…
In the archiveSt. Thomas' Church
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bath.
European settlement near the Pamlico River in the 1690s led to the founding of Bath. The first settlers were mostly English farmers and French Huguenots (Protestants who went as refugees to England and Virginia); among those inhabitants was John Lawson, naturalist, explorer, and town father. The town was named after Bath, England by the English settlers who founded the town.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Bath, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Bath was the common meeting place for the religious gatherings in the parish. It was the only town in the parish, and it was easily aecessible by water for all those who had any desire to attend. Хо church was as yet built, though provision had been made in the act incorporating Bath Town for a suitable lot on which to build a church. Some twenty years later, however, a church was finished, externally at least, for, in 1734, the present old St. Thomas Church, of which Bath is so proud, was com-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the vestry measures of 1701, the only parish named in what was then Bath County was the parish of Pampticough. This parish comprised the settlements along the banks of the Pamlico River, and was established in order to accommodate the people of Bath Town. This continued. to be the parish of Pampticough for the space of about fifteen years. Тһе ministers of the gospel who preached during these years were sent over either by the Church of England or by the Society for Propagating the Gospel,
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bath. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bath.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
![The Old Colonial House, the Governor's Mansion in olden days. Supposed to have been built 1730 [Palmer-Marsh House]](https://images.townratings.com/story/11921/73d76a75f7ecb13e236c-l.jpg)
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bath’s page.
Retake this view · +15Peaked at 400 in 1900; 245 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bath’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Bath itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Bath’s post office has been open since 1801.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1705, according to Wikidata. Bath’s post office opened in 1801, and the census of 1880 counted 89 people here.
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Palmer-Marsh House (a National Historic Landmark since 1970), and 1 historic district, the Bath Historic District, with 5 contributing buildings. 8 historic buildings in all.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (9), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, 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 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.
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