Boiling Springs’ post office opened in 1878, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #197 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Boiling Springs was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Its Register listings are the Irvin-Hamrick Log House and the E. B. Hamrick Hall. Below: maps from 1986 on and the census since 1930.
The Boiling Springs post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Metal (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 672 in 19302020 census: 4,615148 years
How historic is Boiling Springs?
C−
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Boiling Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Boiling Springs’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Boiling Springs is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #197 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 Boiling Springs’ 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 Boiling Springs’ 4.2 sits near the middle of its state (46% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Boiling Springs’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
People began settling the area around the namesake boiling springs in 1843. The first families to settle were the Hamricks, the Greenes and the McSwains. It was only appropriate that the settlement be named Boiling Springs. One of the first buildings was Boiling Springs Baptist Church, built in 1847 about 100 yards from the springs. Boiling Springs was known as a sleepy community, with no railroads, no industries, few stores and no paved streets. At the turn of the 20th century, Kings Mountain Baptist and Sandy Run Associations began looking for a place to build their denominational high school and chose Boiling Springs because it was geographically situated between the two associations and because the Boiling Springs community made concerted efforts to attract the school. The Boiling Springs High School boarding institution opened for business in 1905. School authorities felt that neit…
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Boiling Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1986Gastonia sheet · 1:100,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Boiling Springs.
On the National Register
2 historic places in Boiling Springs
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Boiling Springs, census by census
Between 613 and 4,647 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Boiling Springs’ Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Boiling Springs’s post office has been open since 1878. Another post office, Metal, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Boiling Springs
1878–today
Metal
1894–1902
18701950today
1cemetery inside Boiling Springs
Boiling Springs Baptist Church
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Boiling Springs’ history
What year was Boiling Springs founded?
The Boiling Springs post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Boiling Springs rank for history?
Boiling Springs is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #197 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 Boiling Springs?
Two places: the Irvin-Hamrick Log House (listed 1980) and the E. B. Hamrick Hall (1982).
How old are the homes in Boiling Springs?
0.0% of Boiling Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1994.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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