Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1880.
The Fremont post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Eureka (1885), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fremont is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Fremont’s 53.0 sits above most of its state (69% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fremont’s history is told.
Peaked at 1,736 in 1980; 1,196 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fremont’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Fremont.
Originally named Nahunta, it was renamed Fremont in 1869 after Col. Sewall Lawrence Fremont, a former U.S. Army artilleryman and chief engineer of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad from 1854 to 1871.
The Aycock Birthplace, Barnes-Hooks Farm, and Dred and Ellen Yelverton House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fremont. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fremont.
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 Fremont’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Fremont’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Eureka, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Fremont post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Fremont is more historic than 68% 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.
Two places: the Charles B. Aycock Birthplace (listed 1970) and the Barnes-Hooks Farm (1995).
22% of Fremont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.
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2019
2004