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History · Creswell

Creswell’s post office opened in 1872, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 78 buildings. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1880.

1872first post office
1on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Creswell’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Creswell began

When was Creswell founded?

1872

The Creswell post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1874. Another post office, Cool Spring (1826), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 145 in 18802020 census: 207154 years
Founding year: the first Creswell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1874.The full story ↓

What stands out about Creswell’s past

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

A historic districtThe Creswell Historic District takes in 78 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 633 in 1970; 207 people lived here in 2020.Mystery photos7 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.Old housesHalf of Creswell’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 78 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
78
each building in a district counts
first listed
2002
Creswell Historic District
Creswell Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Victorian1
Italianate1
Queen Anne1
Colonial Revival1
Tudor Revival1
Mission Revival1
Creswell Historic DistrictVictorian

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

People over time

Creswell, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 633

Peaked at 633 in 1970; 207 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Help out

Start Creswell’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo7 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHistoric American Buildings Survey, Tho…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Creswell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Creswell.

Read it all →

Creswell was incorporated in 1874, and named for John Angel James Creswell, the United States Postmaster General at that time. The structures in downtown Creswell are some of North Carolina's best remaining examples of downtown architecture from the late 19th century.

The Belgrade and St. David's Church, Creswell Historic District, Davenport House, and Somerset Place State Historic Site are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Creswell, 1826 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1826Post officeThe Cool Spring post office opens
  3. 1849Post officeThe Cool Spring post office closes
  4. 1872Post officeThe Creswell post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 633
By decade

Creswell, decade by decade

Date unknown7 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer July, 1940 GENERAL VIEW. - Somerset Place, Lake Ph…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterma…Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer July, 1940 GRANARY, GENERAL VIEW. - Somerset Place…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterma…Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer July, 1940 REAR VIEW. - Somerset Place, Lake Phelp…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterma…Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer July, 1940. - Magnolia Farm, State Route 1118, Cre…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterma…Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer July, 1940. - Magnolia Farm, State Route 1118, Cre…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterma…Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer July, 1940. - Pettigrew House, State Route 1158, C…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterma…Magnolia Farm, State Route 1118Date?Magnolia Farm, State Route 1118
Today5 recent
Creswell, North Carolina2019Creswell, North CarolinaDowntownCreswellNC2007DowntownCreswellNCCreswellTownHall2007CreswellTownHallNCMap-doton-Creswell2004NCMap-doton-CreswellDavenport House2001Davenport House
On the map

Creswell on the map, 1943 to 1985

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

Creswell on the 1943 USGS mapCreswell on the 1954 USGS mapCreswell on the 1974 USGS mapCreswell on the 1985 USGS map1943Columbia sheet · 1:125,000

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

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.

Historic American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer July, 1940 GENERAL VIEW. - Somerset Place, Lake Ph…
Retake this viewHistoric American Buildings Survey, Thomas T. Waterman, Photographer July, 1940 GENERAL VIEW. - Somerset Place, Lake Ph…

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Creswell

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

See all →
Edward SnowdenAmerican whistleblower and former NSA contractor · b. 1983
J. B. SmooveAmerican actor · b. 1965
Harriet JacobsAmerican slave, writer, and abolitionist · b. 1815
Little EvaAmerican singer · b. 1943
William BlountAmerican statesman and land speculator who sign… · b. 1749
William AllenAmerican politician, 31st Governor of Ohio · b. 1803
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Creswell’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Cool Spring, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cool Spring
1826–1849
Creswell
1872–today
18201920today

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

Questions about Creswell’s history

What year was Creswell founded?

The Creswell post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1874.

What is on the National Register in Creswell?

One place: the Creswell Historic District (listed 2002).

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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.