Most of Efland was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listing is the North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls. Below: maps from 1968 on.
Founding year: the first Efland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Efland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Efland is more historic than 39% 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 Efland’s 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 Efland’s 6.2 sits near the middle of its state (48% 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 C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±12.7 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 Efland’s 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 Efland yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Efland is a census-designated place in Orange County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 852, up from the 2010 census population of 734. Efland is located along U.S. Route 70, 3 miles (5 km) west of Hillsborough, the Orange County seat, and 5 miles (8 km) east of Mebane. It is served by exit 160 from Interstate 85. The original name of the Efland community was Green Springs. Efland Ruritan Club hosts most of the CDP's activities, including an annual rodeo and the 4th of July and Christmas parades. The club was charted on December 7, 1981, and Ben Lloyd (former County Commissioner and Farmer) was its first president. Efland has two schools, Efland-Ch…
Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 734 to 852 (+16%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about Efland’s history
What year was Efland founded?
The Efland post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Efland rank for history?
Efland is more historic than 39% 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 Efland?
One place: the North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (listed 2018).
How old are the homes in Efland?
8% of Efland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±12.7 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
