Black Mountain’s post office opened in 1880, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #95 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them seven historic districts with 199 buildings between them. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1900.
From Black Mountain’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Black Mountain began
When was Black Mountain founded?
1880
The Black Mountain post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Gray Eagle (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 209 in 19002020 census: 8,426146 years
How historic is Black Mountain?
B
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Black Mountain post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Black Mountain’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Black Mountain is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #95 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 Black Mountain’s overall grade.
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 Black Mountain’s 238 sits above most of its state (86% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 203 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 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 Black Mountain’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Black Mountain in its present form was incorporated on March 4, 1893. The first recorded inhabitants of the area were the Cherokee. A road was built through the area in 1850 and a railroad followed in 1879.
The Black Mountain College Historic District, Black Mountain Downtown Historic District, Blue Ridge Assembly Historic District, Dougherty Heights Historic District, Rafael Guastavino Sr., Estate, Intheoaks, Monte Vista Hotel, South Montreat Road Historic District, and Thomas Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Black Mountain. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1935Black Mountain sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Black Mountain.
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.
Retake this viewZebulon Baird Vance residence Gombroom, 1897
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Black Mountain’s page.
The Black Mountain post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Black Mountain rank for history?
Black Mountain is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #95 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 Black Mountain?
10 listings: 3 buildings and 7 historic districts with 199 contributing buildings. 203 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Black Mountain?
10% of Black Mountain’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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) 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.
1939
1939
1939
1939
