History · Clemmons

Clemmons dates to 1802, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #150 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Philip and Johanna Hoehns (Hanes) House. Most of Clemmons was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1990.

1802founded

1on the National Register

1%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How Clemmons began

When was Clemmons founded?

1802

Clemmons dates its founding to 1802 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1990.

First census: 6,020 in 19902020 census: 21,163224 years

How historic is Clemmons?

C⁺

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1810.

History grade

What drives Clemmons’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clemmons is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #150 of 290 in North Carolina. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clemmons’ overall grade.

Founding era1802, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 19401.1% of homes (±0.8) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%D National Register1 listing, 0.5 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4C⁺

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 42%

NewerOlder

North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 48%

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 Clemmons’ 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (38% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1802.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Clemmons’ 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 Clemmons are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Clemmons, and 9 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1802: 224 years of Clemmons.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Clemmons’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clemmons’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, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Clemmonsville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map

Clemmons StationClemmons WestForest Hills EstatesMeadowbrook EstatesMiddlebrookParkwood LakeRollingreenWaterfordWesterly Forest

Gone or out of use

Oaks Ferrylocale

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

Timeline

Clemmons, 1802 to 1993

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

19th century
1802
FoundingClemmons is established
1810Post officeThe Clemmonsville post office opens
20th century
1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1993Post officeThe Clemmonsville post office closes

The story so far

Clemmons, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clemmons yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Clemmons is a village in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and a suburb of Winston-Salem. The population was 21,177 at the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 21,517 in 2021.

Clemmons was established in 1802. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 18,627 to 21,163 (+14%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Clemmons, decade by decade

Today12 recent

2024Clemmons NC Village Hall 1

2012Kmart

2012Harris Teeter Clemmons, NC 2

2012Harris Teeter Clemmons, NC 1

2007Clemmonstownhall

2006Tanglewoodlights

2004NCMap-doton-Clemmons

On the map

Clemmons on the map, 1968 to 1994

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

1968Clemmons 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 Clemmons.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Clemmons

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2016

Philip and Johanna Hoehns (Hanes) House

Buildings

Philip and Johanna Hoehns (Hanes) HouseBuilding

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

People over time

Clemmons, census by census

Grew from 6,020 people in 1990 to 21,163 in 2020, 3 times over.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lewisville1 historic placeC Winston-Salem87 historic placesA

Questions about Clemmons’ history

What year was Clemmons founded?

In 1802, according to Wikidata. Clemmons’ post office opened in 1810, and the census of 1990 counted 6,020 people here.

How does Clemmons rank for history?

Clemmons is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #150 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 Clemmons?

One place: the Philip and Johanna Hoehns (Hanes) House (listed 2016).

How old are the homes in Clemmons?

1% of Clemmons’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1994.

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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