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C+History
History · Clyde

Clyde’s post office opened in 1886, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Shook-Welch-Smathers House. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1890.

1886first post office
1on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Clyde began

When was Clyde founded?

1886

The Clyde post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 90 in 18902020 census: 1,368140 years

How historic is Clyde?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Clyde’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clyde is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clyde’s overall grade.
Founding era1886, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.8% of homes (±7.2) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 7.4 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
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 Clyde’s 7.4 sits near the middle of its state (50% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±7.2 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 Clyde’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 Clyde are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Clyde’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clyde’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
The story

How Clyde came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Clyde.

Read it all →

Prior to European colonization, the area that is now Clyde was inhabited by the Cherokee people and other Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The Cherokee in Western North Carolina are known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, a federally recognized tribe.

The area is prone to flooding. The town was damaged by Hurricane Ivan (2004), Tropical Storm Fred (2021) and Hurricane Helene in 2024.

The Shook-Welch-Smathers House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Clyde, 1810 to 1977

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1810BuiltShook-Welch-Smathers House is built
  3. 1886Post officeThe Clyde post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1938Born hereCharles F. Price is born here
  7. 1977Born hereFrank Leatherwood is born here
By decade

Clyde, decade by decade

Today17 recent
Depot Street2019Depot StreetDepot Street2019Depot StreetDepot Street2019Depot StreetDepot Street2019Depot StreetDepot Street2019Depot StreetBroad Street2019Broad StreetBroad Street2019Broad StreetBroad Street2019Broad StreetBroad Street2019Broad StreetBroad Street2019Broad StreetBroad Street2019Broad StreetBroad Street2019Broad StreetBroad Street2019Broad StreetBroad Street2019Broad StreetBroad Street2019Broad StreetShook-Welch-Smathers House2014Shook-Welch-Smathers HouseDowntownclyde2006Downtownclyde
On the map

Clyde on the map, 1935 to 1978

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

Clyde on the 1935 USGS mapClyde on the 1941 USGS mapClyde on the 1967 USGS mapClyde on the 1978 USGS map1935Clyde 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 Clyde.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Clyde

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2008
Shook-Welch-Smathers House
Shook-Welch-Smathers House, built 1810
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Georgian1
Late Victorian1
Shook-Welch-Smathers HouseGeorgian · Built 1810

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

People over time

Clyde, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40019001920194019601980200020201,368

Grew from 90 people in 1890 to 1,368 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Clyde

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Charles F. PriceNon-fiction writer · b. 1938
F
Frank LeatherwoodAmerican football player · b. 1977

Questions about Clyde’s history

What year was Clyde founded?

The Clyde post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Clyde rank for history?

Clyde is more historic than 43% 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 Clyde?

One place: the Shook-Welch-Smathers House (listed 2008).

How old are the homes in Clyde?

11% of Clyde’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 (17), Wikidata (1), 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.