Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Butner

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
D−History
History · Butner

Butner’s post office opened in 1948

Among the newest of U.S. towns · #280 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Most of Butner was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1977 on and the census since 1970.

1948first post office
0on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: EbonyEaton · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Butner began, and where its name came from

When was Butner founded?

1948

The Butner post office opened in 1948, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Dutchville (1833), Cozart (1889) and Lyons (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 3,538 in 19702020 census: 8,39778 years

How did Butner get its name?

Butner was named for Major General Henry W. Butner (1875–1937), a North Carolina native.

How historic is Butner?

D−

Among the newest of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Butner post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Butner’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Butner is among the newest of U.S. towns, #280 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Butner’s overall grade.
Founding era1948, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.8) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical NC town 12.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Among the newest
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 3%

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 Butner’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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D−. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 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 Butner’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Butner are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Butner, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Butner’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Butner’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

Lost post offices and old corners

Butner’s post office has been open since 1948. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dutchville
1833–1904
Cozart
1889–1905
Lyons
1891–1928
Butner
1948–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CozartLyons

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

The story

How Butner came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Butner.

Read it all →

The area eventually comprising the town of Butner was originally land along the Occaneechi Path, a Native American trade route. Following the arrival of European settlers, it became a rural community populated by farmers. In August 1941, the U.S. federal government beginning planning for the development of a military facility in the area, motivated partly by its proximity to a rail line. Following the United States' entry into World War II that December, planning hastened and in January 1942 the government ordered locals to vacate their land. The government ultimately evicted between 400 and 500 families and razed most of their homes and agricultural buildings to make way for a U.S. Army camp. Construction commenced in March and Camp Butner officially opened in August 1942. It was named for Major General Henry W. Butner (1875–1937), a North Carolina native. Thousands of soldiers were tr…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Butner, 1833 to 1977

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1833Post officeThe Dutchville post office opens
  3. 1889Post officeThe Cozart post office opens
  4. 1891Post officeThe Lyons post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904Post officeThe Dutchville post office closes
  7. 1905Post officeThe Cozart post office closes
  8. 1928Post officeThe Lyons post office closes
  9. 1977On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Butner, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Gazebo Park2011Gazebo ParkButner Town Hall2011Butner Town Hall2009-02-23 Tower in20092009-02-23 Tower inLake Holt2008Lake Holt
On the map

Butner on the map, 1977 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Butner. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Butner on the 1977 USGS mapButner on the 1984 USGS mapButner on the 1991 USGS map1977Lake Michie 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 Butner.

People over time

Butner, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001980200020208,397

Grew from 3,538 people in 1970 to 8,397 in 2020.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Creedmoor2 historic placesC

Questions about Butner’s history

What year was Butner founded?

The Butner post office opened in 1948, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Butner rank for history?

Butner is among the newest of U.S. towns, #280 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.

How old are the homes in Butner?

0.5% of Butner’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1991.

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 (4), Wikipedia, 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.