Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the newest of U.S. towns · #284 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Belville was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1980.
Belville dates its founding to 1977 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1980.
Among the newest of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belville is among the newest of U.S. towns, #284 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Belville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
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 Belville’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1980 and 1990, then grew more than tenfold.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Belville’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Belville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Belville is a town in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,406 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Wilmington, NC metropolitan area.
Belville was established in 1977. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,936 to 2,406 (+24%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Belville. 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 Belville.
Another post office, Easy Hill, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1977, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Belville’s post office opened in 1873, and the census of 1980 counted 102 people here.
Belville is among the newest of U.S. towns, #284 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.
0.0% of Belville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 2005.
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).
From 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.
