Kings Mountain’s post office opened in 1837, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #42 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 209 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Kings Mountain post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kings Mountain’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kings Mountain is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #42 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kings Mountain’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 Kings Mountain’s 178 sits above most of its state (82% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 214 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 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 Kings Mountain’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
On the map
Kings Mountain on the map, 1908 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kings Mountain. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908Kings Mountain sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kings Mountain.
Originally the settlement was called White Plains, but the city was incorporated on October 16, 1874, and the name was changed. It was decided that "Kings Mountain" would be a more appropriate name since the community was close to the site of the historic 1780 Battle of Kings Mountain in York County, South Carolina, a turning point in the American Revolutionary War.
The Battle of Kings Mountain was proclaimed as "the turning point of the American Revolution" by Thomas Jefferson. Liberty Mountain, a play performed at the local theater, recounts the events of the battle. The downtown area is home to the Kings Mountain Historical Museum, police station, and the Mauney Memorial Library.
Passages that mention Kings Mountain, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical statements concerning the battle of Kings Mountain and the battle of the Cowpens, South Carolina1928Read the page →
Read the text
was intended that he should pass the Catawba River and endeavor to preserve tranquillity in the rear and flank of the army. It was while on this duty that the loss of his entire command occurred at Kings Mountain on the 7th of the following month. Without some knowledge of Cornwallis's campaign in South Carolina, and from thence into North Carolina as far as Charlotte Town, the necessity for his immediate retirement from the northern Province, following Kings Mountain, would not be understood. It is now
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Kings Mountain, 1837 to 2002
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
1902Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
People over time
Kings Mountain, census by census
Grew from 337 people in 1880 to 11,142 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kings Mountain’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
10 famous people were born in Kings Mountain
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Kings Mountain post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kings Mountain rank for history?
Kings Mountain is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #42 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 Kings Mountain?
9 listings: 4 buildings, 3 historic districts, the Central School Historic District, the Margrace Mill Village Historic District and the West End Historic District, with 209 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 214 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Kings Mountain?
10% of Kings Mountain’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1976.
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), Wikidata (4), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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