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BHistory
History · Chadbourn

Chadbourn’s post office opened in 1882, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Westside High School. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1890.

1882first post office
1on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chadbourn’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chadbourn began

When was Chadbourn founded?

1882

The Chadbourn post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 156 in 18902020 census: 1,574144 years

How historic is Chadbourn?

B

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Chadbourn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Chadbourn’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chadbourn is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chadbourn’s overall grade.
Founding era1882, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194019.3% of homes (±8.5) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 14.8 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 58%
NewerOlder

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 Chadbourn’s 14.8 sits near the middle of its state (57% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.5 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 Chadbourn’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,323 in 1960; 1,574 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chadbourn’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chadbourn’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewLoading strawberries in Chadbourn, 1907: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Chadbourn, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,323

Peaked at 2,323 in 1960; 1,574 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Chadbourn came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chadbourn.

Read it all →

A post office called Chadbourn has been in operation since 1882. It was incorporated in 1883, being named after a local family engaged in the lumber industry.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chadbourn, 1882 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Chadbourn post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907In the archiveLoading strawberries in Chadbourn, 1907
  5. 1934Born hereEdolphus Towns is born here
  6. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 2,323
By decade

Chadbourn, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Loading strawberries in Chadbourn, 19071907Loading strawberries in Chadbourn, 1907
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Chadbourn Tower House & OfficeDate?Chadbourn Tower House & Office
Today11 recent
Commercial storefronts in2023Commercial storefronts inCarolina Southern Railroad Depot August 2013 ^951 and caboose2013Carolina Southern Railroad Depot August 2013 ^951 and…Carolina Southern Railroad Depot August 2013 Baltimore and Annapolis RR ^872013Carolina Southern Railroad Depot August 2013 Baltimor…Carolina Southern Railroad Depot August 20132013Carolina Southern Railroad Depot August 2013Carolina Southern Railroad Depot August 2013 - panoramio (3)2013Carolina Southern Railroad Depot August 2013 - panora…Carolina Southern Railroad Depot August 2013 - panoramio (2)2013Carolina Southern Railroad Depot August 2013 - panora…Carolina Southern Railroad Depot August 2013 - panoramio (1)2013Carolina Southern Railroad Depot August 2013 - panora…Carolina Southern Railroad August 2013 Georgia Pacific Plant rail entrance2013Carolina Southern Railroad August 2013 Georgia Pacifi…Carolina Southern Railroad August 2013 Georgia Pacific Plant rail entrance - panoramio (1)2013Carolina Southern Railroad August 2013 Georgia Pacifi…Carolina Southern Railroad August 20132013Carolina Southern Railroad August 2013Chadbourn Public High School and Graded School, Columbus County2012Chadbourn Public High School and Graded School, Colum…
On the map

Chadbourn on the map, 1953 to 1986

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

Chadbourn on the 1953 USGS mapChadbourn on the 1986 USGS map1953Chadbourn sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Chadbourn.

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.

Loading strawberries in Chadbourn, 1907
Retake this viewLoading strawberries in Chadbourn, 1907, 1907

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Chadbourn’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Chadbourn

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2022
Westside High School
Westside High School
Buildings
All 1 listings
Westside High SchoolBuilding · listed 2022

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Chadbourn’s post office has been open since 1882.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Peacocks
1cemetery inside Chadbourn
Chadbourn

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

Questions about Chadbourn’s history

What year was Chadbourn founded?

The Chadbourn post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Chadbourn rank for history?

Chadbourn is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. 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 Chadbourn?

One place: the Westside High School (listed 2022).

How old are the homes in Chadbourn?

19% of Chadbourn’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1975.

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 (13), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.