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B+History
History · Lucama

Lucama’s post office opened in 1884, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 42 buildings.

1884first post office
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lucama began

When was Lucama founded?

1884

The Lucama post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,036142 years

How historic is Lucama?

B+

More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lucama post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lucama’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lucama is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lucama’s overall grade.
Founding era1884, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194012.2% of homes (±7.3) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 42 historic buildings, 349 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 66%
NewerOlder

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 Lucama’s 349 sits above most of its state (91% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 42 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.3 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 Lucama’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 Lucama are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Lucama Municipal Historic District takes in 42 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lucama’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lucama’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
On the National Register

1 listing protects 42 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
42
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Lucama Municipal Historic District
Lucama Municipal Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Victorian1
Colonial Revival1
Bungalow1
All 1 listings
Lucama Municipal Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1986

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

The story

How Lucama came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lucama.

Read it all →

The name Lucama is rumored by folk tradition to have been coined by Josephus Daniels around 1883 to honor three local women named Lucy, Carrie, and Mary, by combining the first two letters of each of their names. A U.S. post office was established in 1884, and the town was incorporated in 1889.

The Lucama Municipal Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Lucama, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Lucama Post Office2016Lucama Post OfficeLucama Public High School Building, Wilson County2012Lucama Public High School Building, Wilson CountyPortrait of Vollis Simpson, Lucama, North Carolina, April 19, 20112011Portrait of Vollis Simpson, Lucama, North Carolina, A…Portrait of Vollis Simpson, Lucama, North Carolina, April 19, 2011 (3x4 cropped)2011Portrait of Vollis Simpson, Lucama, North Carolina, A…TaylorMeyn 09-13-2008 SouthernNationalRacewayPark WhelenModifiedQualifying2009TaylorMeyn 09-13-2008 SouthernNationalRacewayPark Whe…NCMap-doton-Lucama2004NCMap-doton-Lucama

Questions about Lucama’s history

What year was Lucama founded?

The Lucama post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lucama rank for history?

Lucama is more historic than 66% 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 Lucama?

One place: the Lucama Municipal Historic District (listed 1986).

How old are the homes in Lucama?

12% of Lucama’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1975.

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.