Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns · #8 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
12 places in town are on the National Register, among them seven historic districts with 1,236 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
Elizabeth City dates its founding to 1794 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elizabeth City is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #8 of 290 in North Carolina. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Elizabeth City’s 660 sits above most of its state (95% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 1,245 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Elizabeth City’s post office has been open since 1797.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Elizabeth City.
Located at the narrows of the Pasquotank River, colonists used the area that developed as Elizabeth City as a trading site. As early as the mid 18th century, they established inspection stations and ferries. With the addition of minor roads, a schoolhouse, and soon a church, a small community developed at these narrows.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltOld Brick House is builtBuiltEpiscopal Cemetery is built
Born hereJohn Pool is born here
In the archiveNorth Carolina - Durham through MacArthur Lake
In the archiveElizabeth City in 1926 (1)
In the archive126 Old Highway Bridge at Elizabeth City, North CarolinaBuiltElizabeth City Water Plant is built
In the archiveWeeksville Air Station 1944 Aerial View
Born hereJohn Dear is born here
Born hereEdward Snowden is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereLee J. Carter is born here4 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1917North Carolina - Durham through MacArthur Lake
1917North Carolina - Durham through MacArthur Lake1926Elizabeth City in 1926 (1)
1926Elizabeth City in 1926 (2)1931126 Old Highway Bridge at Elizabeth City, North Carol…
1931127 Old Highway Bridge at Elizabeth City, North Carol…
1931129 New Highway Bridge at Elizabeth City, North Carol…
193272 Derrick Boat No. 14 under repairs at Elizabeth Cit…
193276 Derrick Boat No. 14 under repairs at Elizabeth Cit…
193277 Derrick Boat No. 14 under repairs at Elizabeth Cit…The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elizabeth City.
1985Elizabeth City sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elizabeth City.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Elizabeth City’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 930 and 18,683 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elizabeth City’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1794, according to Wikidata. Elizabeth City’s post office opened in 1797, and the census of 1870 counted 930 people here.
Elizabeth City is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #8 of 290 in North Carolina. 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.
12 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Old Brick House (listed 1972, the first), 7 historic districts with 1,236 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 1,245 historic buildings in all.
17% of Elizabeth City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1970.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (12), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
