James City’s post office opened in 1888, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #181 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of James City was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Mount Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1901 on.
The James City post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Thurman (1885), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 5,291138 years
How historic is James City?
C
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first James City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives James City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, James City is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #181 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of James City’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 James City’s 2.1 sits near the middle of its state (41% 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 (±3.4 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 James City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
James City was developed during the American Civil War when Union forces, occupying nearby New Bern, constructed a resettlement camp for freed slaves on land belonging to Confederate Army Colonel Peter G. Evans. Originally referred to as the Trent River Settlement, by 1865 it had been renamed James City, after its founder, Union Army chaplain Horace James, superintendent of Negro affairs and agent for the Bureau of Freedmen, Refugees, and Abandoned Lands.
The James City post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does James City rank for history?
James City is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #181 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 James City?
One place: the Mount Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church (listed 2007).
How old are the homes in James City?
4% of James City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), 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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
1866
1866
1866
2004
