The story
Read it all →How Gastonia came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Gastonia.
Gastonia is named for William Gaston, a jurist and United States Representative from North Carolina.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
BHistory
History · Gastonia
Gastonia’s post office opened in 1873, and 14 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #104 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Gastonia was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. 14 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 1,140 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.
1873first post office
14on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
38famous people
Quick answers
How Gastonia began
When was Gastonia founded?
1873
The Gastonia post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Pleasantridge (1857) and Bethesda (1892), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 236 in 18802020 census: 80,411153 years
How historic is Gastonia?
B
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Gastonia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gastonia’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gastonia is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #104 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gastonia’s overall grade.
Founding era1873, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19408.0% of homes (±1.3) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register14 listings, 1,161 historic buildings, 140 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 64%
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 Gastonia’s 140 sits above most of its state (81% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 1,161 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. 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 Gastonia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A historic districtThe York-Chester Historic District takes in 649 historic buildings.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Gastonia, and 18 old place names are still on the map.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1893 to 1922, drew every building in Gastonia.Landmarks on the Register14 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register
14 listings protect 1,161 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
places listed
14
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1,161
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
William J. Wilson House
BuildingsDistricts
Architectural styles listings
Tudor Revival3
Colonial Revival3
Classical Revival2
Italian Renaissance2
Italianate2
Bungalow2
William J. Wilson HouseFederal · Built 1824
Gaston County CourthouseNeo-Classical Revival
Gastonia High SchoolTudor Revival
First National Bank BuildingNeo-Classical
Third National Bank BuildingTudor Revival
Robinson-Gardner BuildingRenaissance Revival
Downtown Gastonia Historic DistrictColonial Revival
City Hospital-Gaston Memorial HospitalClassical Revival
All 14 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Gastonia’s post office has been open since 1873. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Pleasantridge
Gastonia
Bethesda
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BeaverbrookBlackwood ParkBoogertownCrowdersEast GastoniaForest BrookGardner ParkGardner WoodGrovesJenkins HeightsLake WoodLoray MillsLove ParkMonticello WoodsOakland ParkOzarkSmyreWesley Park
10cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gastonia
Center ChurchCraig FamilyFirestoneFirestone MemorialGaston MemorialHollywoodNorth Oakland StreetOakwoodRose HillShiloh
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Gastonia, building by building, 1893–1922
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.
1893Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Gastonia, 1824 to 1989
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1824BuiltWilliam J. Wilson House is built
- 1857Post officeThe Pleasantridge post office opens
- 1873Post officeThe Gastonia post office opens
- 1892Post officeThe Bethesda post office opens
- 1894Post officeThe Bethesda post office closes
- 20th century
- 1905
In the archiveGastonia NC Loray Cotton Mill 57000 Spindles - 1907Post officeThe Pleasantridge post office closes
- 1914
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1930
Born hereThomas Sowell is born here - 1957
Born hereLionel Shriver is born here - 1961Born hereJames Worthy is born here
- 1989
Born hereHassan Whiteside is born here
By decade
Gastonia, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s6 items
1905Gastonia NC Loray Cotton Mill 57000 SpindlesPostcard
190811 years old. Beginning to doff. Son of one of Gaston…
1908Gastonia, N.C. Boy from Loray Mill. 'Been at it right…
1908Golla Chambers, 12 years old, been in mill 3 years, s…
1908Ozark Mill, Gastonia, N.C. Work 12 hours at a stretch…
1908Trenton Mill, Gastonia, N.C. Tom Jenkins (left hand e…1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your albumOn the map
Gastonia on the map, 1914 to 2002
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gastonia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1914Gastonia sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gastonia.
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.
Retake this viewGastonia NC Loray Cotton Mill 57000 Spindles, 1905
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Gastonia’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Gastonia, census by census
Grew from 236 people in 1880 to 80,411 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gastonia’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →38 famous people were born in Gastonia
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
J
James WorthyAmerican basketball player · b. 1961
Help out
Finish Gastonia’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Gastonia’s history
What year was Gastonia founded?
The Gastonia post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Gastonia rank for history?
Gastonia is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #104 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.
What is on the National Register in Gastonia?
14 listings: 11 buildings, among them the William J. Wilson House (listed 1976, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Downtown Gastonia Historic District, the Loray Mill Historic District and the York-Chester Historic District, with 1,140 contributing buildings. 1,161 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Gastonia?
8% of Gastonia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1978.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (14), 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.