Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Kelly was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1954 on.
The Kelly post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, French Creek Church (1852), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Kelly’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kelly yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Kelly is a census-designated place (CDP) in Bladen County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 446 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 544 to 446 (-18%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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 Kelly. 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 Kelly.
Nobody well known was born in Kelly itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Kelly’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, French Creek Church, 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 Kelly post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.
2016
2016
