The Coats post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Troyville (1877), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 169 in 19102020 census: 2,155123 years
How historic is Coats?
C−
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Coats post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Coats’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coats is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Coats’ 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 Coats’ 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 C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.0 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 Coats’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Coats yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Coats is a town in Harnett County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,155 at the 2020 census. Coats is a part of the Anderson Creek Micropolitan Area, which is a part of the greater Raleigh–Durham–Cary Combined Statistical Area (CSA) as defined by the United States Census Bureau.
Its first post office opened in 1903. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,112 to 2,155 (+2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Coats, 1877 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Coats’s post office has been open since 1903. Another post office, Troyville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Troyville
1877–1903
Coats
1903–today
18701950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Coats’ history
What year was Coats founded?
The Coats post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Coats rank for history?
Coats is more historic than 20% 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.
How old are the homes in Coats?
14% of Coats’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 the Library of Congress (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.
