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History · Littleton

Littleton’s post office opened in 1839, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Person's Ordinary, the St. Alban's Episcopal Church and the Dr. Charles and Susan Skinner House and Outbuildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1973 on, and the census since 1880.

1839first post office
3on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Littleton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Littleton began

When was Littleton founded?

1839

The Littleton post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1877.

First census: 113 in 18802020 census: 559187 years
Founding year: the first Littleton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1877.The full story ↓

What stands out about Littleton’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 1,200 in 1940; 559 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1839: 187 years of Littleton.Old housesHalf of Littleton’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · People over time

Littleton, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,200

Peaked at 1,200 in 1940; 559 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Littleton, 1839 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Littleton post office opens
  3. 1844BuiltDr. Charles and Susan Skinner House and Outbuildings is built
  4. 20th century
  5. 1925Born hereWilliam H. Hicks is born here
  6. 1933In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey, C.O. Greene, Photographer, 1940 GENERAL VIEW. - Mosby…
  7. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 1,200
  8. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Littleton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Littleton.

Read it all →

Littleton was named after William Little, a state senator at the time of founding. In 1882, Littleton College for women was founded with an initial enrollment of eleven students. The college became relatively successful with a peak enrollment of 285 in 1908. On January 22, 1919, the college was destroyed by fire, and without an endowment, it was never rebuilt.

Person's Ordinary and St. Alban's Episcopal Church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Originally Littleton was divided between the counties of Warren and Halifax, but on July 1, 1974, an election was made to make Littleton only to be a part of Halifax County.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Littleton, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Historic American Buildings Survey, C.O. Greene, Photographer, 1940 GENERAL VIEW. - Mosby Hall, Mosby Avenue1933Historic American Buildings Survey, C.O. Greene, Phot…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown4 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey, C.O. Greene, Photographer, 1940 DETAIL OF FRONT. - Mosby Hall, Mosby Avenue, Little…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, C.O. Greene, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey, C.O. Greene, Photographer, 1940 VIEW OF FRONT. - Mosby Hall, Mosby AvenueDate?Historic American Buildings Survey, C.O. Greene, Phot…Historic American Buildings Survey, C.O. Greene, Photographer, 1940 VIEW OF REAR. - Mosby Hall, Mosby AvenueDate?Historic American Buildings Survey, C.O. Greene, Phot…Mosby Hall, Mosby AvenueDate?Mosby Hall, Mosby Avenue
Today4 recent
Littleton, North Carolina2019Littleton, North CarolinaSt. Alban's Episcopal Church2018St. Alban's Episcopal ChurchPerson's Ordinary2018Person's OrdinaryNCMap-doton-Littleton2004NCMap-doton-Littleton
On the map

Littleton on the map, 1973 to 1985

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

Littleton on the 1973 USGS mapLittleton on the 1985 USGS map1973Littleton 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 Littleton.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Historic American Buildings Survey, C.O. Greene, Photographer, 1940 GENERAL VIEW. - Mosby Hall, Mosby Avenue
Retake this viewHistoric American Buildings Survey, C.O. Greene, Photographer, 1940 GENERAL VIEW. - Mosby Hall, Mosby Avenue, 1933

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Littleton’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Littleton

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Person's Ordinary
Person's OrdinarySt. Alban's Episcopal Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Gothic1
Greek Revival1
Person's OrdinaryBuilding
St. Alban's Episcopal ChurchLate Victorian
All 3 listings
Dr. Charles and Susan Skinner House and OutbuildingsBuilding · listed 2000

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

Help out

Start Littleton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHistoric American Buildings Survey, C.O…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Littleton’s history

What year was Littleton founded?

The Littleton post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1877.

What is on the National Register in Littleton?

Three places: the Person's Ordinary (listed 1973), the St. Alban's Episcopal Church (2011) and the Dr. Charles and Susan Skinner House and Outbuildings (2000).

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 (8), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.