Most of Lake Waccamaw was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Lake Waccamaw Depot. Below: maps from 1986 on and the census since 1920.
The Lake Waccamaw post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Flemington (1868) and Wananish (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 237 in 19202020 census: 1,296143 years
How historic is Lake Waccamaw?
C+
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lake Waccamaw post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lake Waccamaw’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Waccamaw is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Waccamaw’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 Lake Waccamaw’s 11.3 sits near the middle of its state (54% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 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 Lake Waccamaw’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Charles the Second of England granted proprietors individual grants to allow them to sail to the new world to bring him back riches and news. By the mid-eighteenth century, Lake Waccamaw’s settler population had increased. People like John Powell, from Virginia, brought cattle. John Powell's son Absalom Powell started to buy land near Lake Waccamaw. John Powell's other son Issac Powell was made the first major of the Brandon, County Durham militia in 1804 and justice of peace in 1806. Issac owned most of Lake Waccamaw.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Waccamaw. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1986Whiteville sheet · 1:100,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lake Waccamaw.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Lake Waccamaw
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Lake Waccamaw, census by census
Between 237 and 1,480 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake Waccamaw’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Lake Waccamaw’s history
What year was Lake Waccamaw founded?
The Lake Waccamaw post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lake Waccamaw rank for history?
Lake Waccamaw is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns. 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 Lake Waccamaw?
One place: the Lake Waccamaw Depot (listed 1983).
How old are the homes in Lake Waccamaw?
7% of Lake Waccamaw’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
