More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #226 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Calabash was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1980.
Founding year: the first Calabash post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Calabash’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Calabash is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #226 of 290 in North Carolina. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Calabash’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 Calabash’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 range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 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 Calabash’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Calabash was named after the gourds that grew in the region, which were used for drinking well water. Since the 1930s, Calabash has been known for its distinctive style of fried fish, which has come to be known as "Calabash Style." The New York Times reported in 1983 that Calabash had 32 restaurants and about 180 residents. 40 years later, the number of restaurants was about the same but the town had around 2,000 residents. Calabash style buffets are common in many eastern Carolina coastal towns. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is home to a large number of these restaurants, as the city is just 25 miles (40 km) from Calabash.
The Calabash post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Calabash rank for history?
Calabash is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #226 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 Calabash?
0.5% of Calabash’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 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.
