Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Laurel Hill

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Laurel Hill Presbyterian ChurchLaurel Hill Presbyterian Church · Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Laurel Hill

Laurel Hill’s post office opened in 1807

Most of Laurel Hill was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1949 on.

1807first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Laurel Hill began

When was Laurel Hill founded?

1807

The Laurel Hill post office opened in 1807, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,121219 years
Founding year: the first Laurel Hill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Laurel Hill’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 Laurel Hill are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1807: 219 years of Laurel Hill.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Laurel Hill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Laurel Hill’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
Timeline

Laurel Hill, 1807 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1807Post officeThe Laurel Hill post office opens
  3. 1820Born hereEvander McNair is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Laurel Hill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Laurel Hill.

Read it all →

In 1797 the Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church was established. The church was named for the laurel growing in the area. A community formed in the vicinity of the church, and after the American Revolutionary War it prospered as a center of commerce. Most of the initial settlers were Scottish Highlanders. A post office was established by 1822. A line of the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad was later laid and a depot established to the south of the church area, and by 1861 most of the community had migrated there. A turpentine distillery and tub manufacturer were established. Federal troops under William Tecumseh Sherman camped by the church in 1865 during the Carolinas campaign of the American Civil War. In the 1870s John F. McNair created a general store in Laurel Hill. In 1900, Z.V. Pate purchased McNair's general store and transformed it into a large regional furniture retai…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Laurel Hill, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 072023Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 07Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 062023Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 06Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 052023Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 05Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 042023Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 04Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 032023Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 03Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 022023Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 02Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 012023Laurel Hill seen from U.S. Route 74 - 01Laurel Hill, North Carolina2022Laurel Hill, North CarolinaSpringfield Cotton Mill2012Springfield Cotton MillRichmond Cotton Mill2012Richmond Cotton MillIda Yarn Mill2012Ida Yarn MillUntitled photo2011Untitled photo
On the map

Laurel Hill on the map, 1949 to 1982

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

Laurel Hill on the 1949 USGS mapLaurel Hill on the 1976 USGS mapLaurel Hill on the 1982 USGS map1949Gibson 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 Laurel Hill.

Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

Laurel Hill’s post office has been open since 1807.

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Laurel Hill
KingMorganSandersSanders

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

Questions about Laurel Hill’s history

What year was Laurel Hill founded?

The Laurel Hill post office opened in 1807, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.