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History · Como

Como’s post office opened in 1883, and 53% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Hare Plantation House, the Vernon Place and the Mill Neck School. Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1970.

1883first post office
3on the National Register
53%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Como began

When was Como founded?

1883

The Como post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 211 in 19702020 census: 67143 years
Founding year: the first Como post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Como’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 Como are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Como’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Como’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Como’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 Como came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Como.

Read it all →

The town is notable for being the birthplace of Richard Gatling, inventor of the Gatling gun. The church he attended, Buckhorn Baptist Church, is still active today.

Another well-known resident was the hoodoo root doctor Jim Jordan, who died in the early 1960s. Jordan, who was African-American, was the subject of the biographical book The Fabled Dr. Jim Jordan written by F. Roy Johnson of nearby Murfreesboro.

Hare Plantation House, Riddick House, and Vernon Place are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Como, decade by decade

Today1 recent
NCMap-doton-Como2004NCMap-doton-Como
On the map

Como on the map in 1953

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Como.

Como on the 1953 USGS map1953Norfolk sheet · 1:250,000

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

On the National Register

3 historic places in Como

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Hare Plantation House
Hare Plantation HouseVernon PlaceMill Neck School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Greek Revival1
All 3 listings
Hare Plantation HouseBuilding · listed 1971Vernon PlaceBuilding · listed 1982Mill Neck SchoolBuilding · listed 2016

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

People over time

Como, census by census

0100200198020002020Peak: 211

Between 67 and 211 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Como

Nobody well known was born in Como itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Charlie ByrdAmerican jazz guitarist · b. 1925
Della H. RaneyAfrican-American army nurse · b. 1912
E
Ella MitchellAmerican actress · b. 1937
Lewis F. Powell Jr.American jurist (1907–1998); US Supreme Court j… · b. 1907
Richard HudsonAmerican businessman and politician · b. 1971
Rory SparrowAmerican basketball player · b. 1958

Questions about Como’s history

What year was Como founded?

The Como post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Como?

Three places: the Hare Plantation House (listed 1971), the Vernon Place (1982) and the Mill Neck School (2016).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.