More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #223 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Havelock was built recently: 0.6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1960.
The Havelock post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cherry Point (1890), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 2,433 in 19602020 census: 16,621145 years
How historic is Havelock?
D
More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Havelock post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Havelock’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Havelock is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #223 of 290 in North Carolina. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Havelock’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 Havelock’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 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 Havelock’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Havelock’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, Cherry Point, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Havelock
1881–today
Cherry Point
1890–1932
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cherry PointCherry Point LandingCherry Point Marine Base Mobile Home ParkCollege ParkGreenfields HeightsHancock VillageHavelock ManorHavelock Mobile CourtHavelock ParkHavelock StationJackson Mobile Home ParkJerrett EstatesKetner HeightsManteoSherwood ForestSlocun VillageTrent AcresWinstead Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Cherry Point Landinglocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Havelock’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Havelock’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Havelock is one of eight cities in the world named after Sir Henry Havelock, a British officer in India, who distinguished himself in 1857 during what was known as the Indian Mutiny. The area was originally named "Havelock Station" in the late 1850s, when the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad built a depot where its right-of-way crossed what is now Miller Boulevard.
The Havelock post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Havelock rank for history?
Havelock is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #223 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.
How old are the homes in Havelock?
0.6% of Havelock’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 (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.
2013
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