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A−History
History · Kernersville

Kernersville dates to 1756, and 9 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #67 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Most of Kernersville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. 9 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 63 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1880.

1756founded
9on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Kernersville began

When was Kernersville founded?

1756

Kernersville dates its founding to 1756 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 585 in 18802020 census: 26,449270 years

How historic is Kernersville?

A−

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1832.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Kernersville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kernersville is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #67 of 290 in North Carolina. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kernersville’s overall grade.
Founding era1756, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 19403.1% of homes (±2.0) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register9 listings, 72 historic buildings, 25.9 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 75%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 77%

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 Kernersville’s 25.9 sits near the middle of its state (63% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 72 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1756.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Kernersville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Kernersville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Kernersville, and 8 old place names are still on the map.A historic districtThe South Main Street Historic District takes in 53 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register9 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kernersville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kernersville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Kernersville’s post office has been open since 1837. Another post office, Kerners Cross Roads, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Kerners Cross Roads
1832–1837
Kernersville
1837–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ApplegateBeeson CrossroadsChristy AcresCliffwoodEmorywood EstatesTalleys CrossingTimber TrailsWellington Way
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Kernersville
East Lawn Gardens of MemoryMount Gur

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the National Register

9 listings protect 72 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
9
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
72
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Korner's Folly
Korner's FollyIsaac Harrison McKaughan HouseFirst Baptist ChurchKernersville DepotSouth Main Street Historic DistrictStuart Motor Company, built 1926Harmon-Reid MillNorth Cherry Street Historic DistrictRoberts-Justice House, built 1877
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Italianate3
Late Victorian2
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals2
Tudor Revival1
Late Gothic Revival1
Mid-19th Century1
Korner's FollyBuilding
Isaac Harrison McKaughan HouseItalianate
First Baptist ChurchTudor Revival
Kernersville DepotLate Victorian
South Main Street Historic DistrictMid-19th Century
Stuart Motor CompanyCommercial Style · Built 1926
All 9 listings
Harmon-Reid MillBuilding · listed 1988North Cherry Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1988Roberts-Justice HouseBuilding · listed 1988

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Kernersville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kernersville.

Read it all →

The site was first settled by an Irishman named Caleb Story in 1756. Circa 1770, the site was purchased by William Dobson and was called "Dobson's Crossroads". George Washington was served breakfast at Dobson's tavern on June 2, 1791. Joseph Kerner bought the property in 1817, continuing to operate the inn; the town became known as "Kerners Crossroads". Kerner (Joseph Kirner, born in Furtwangen im Schwarzwald Germany) left his property to two sons and a daughter. Not long after the arrival of the railroad, the town was incorporated as "Kernersville" in 1873.

There was brief flirtation with relocating the Minnesota Twins to Kernersville in 1998.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kernersville, 1756 to 1999

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1756
    FoundingKernersville is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1832Post officeThe Kerners Cross Roads post office opens
  5. 1837Post officeThe Kerners Cross Roads post office closes
  6. 1837Post officeThe Kernersville post office opens
  7. 1877BuiltRoberts-Justice House is built
  8. 20th century
  9. 1901Born hereCarr Smith is born here
  10. 1926BuiltStuart Motor Company is built
  11. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1984Born hereChris Lane is born here
  13. 1987Born hereDrew Fulk is born here
  14. 1999Born hereMadison Bailey is born here
By decade

Kernersville, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Isaac Harrison McKaughan House Kernersville NC Jan 20152015Isaac Harrison McKaughan House Kernersville NC Jan 20…Roberts-JusticeHouse2013Roberts-JusticeHouseKernersvilleFirstBaptistChurch2013KernersvilleFirstBaptistChurchI-40 BUS, US 421, NC 1502009I-40 BUS, US 421, NC 150
On the map

Kernersville on the map, 1969 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kernersville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Kernersville on the 1969 USGS mapKernersville on the 1977 USGS mapKernersville on the 1987 USGS mapKernersville on the 1994 USGS map1969Kernersville sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kernersville.

Every building

Kernersville, building by building, 1915

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 sheet.

Kernersville fire insurance map, 1915, sheet 11915Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Kernersville, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,0001880190019201940196019802000202026,449

Grew from 585 people in 1880 to 26,449 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kernersville’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

9 famous people were born in Kernersville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
M
Madison BaileyAmerican actress · b. 1999
Chris LaneAmerican country music singer · b. 1984
C
Carr SmithAmerican baseball player · b. 1901
Drew FulkAmerican songwriter and producer · b. 1987
B
Ben NewnamAmerican soccer player · b. 1991
R
Ramekon O'ArwistersAmerican artist · b. 1960
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Winston-Salem87 historic placesAWalkertown1 historic placeA−Greensboro61 historic placesA−

Questions about Kernersville’s history

What year was Kernersville founded?

In 1756, according to Wikidata. Kernersville’s post office opened in 1832, and the census of 1880 counted 585 people here.

How does Kernersville rank for history?

Kernersville is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #67 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 Kernersville?

9 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Korner's Folly (listed 1973, the first), and 2 historic districts, the South Main Street Historic District and the North Cherry Street Historic District, with 63 contributing buildings. 72 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Kernersville?

3% of Kernersville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1995.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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.