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CHistory
History · Marshville

Marshville’s post office opened in 1895, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #167 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1900.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Marshville began

When was Marshville founded?

1895

The Marshville post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 349 in 19002020 census: 2,522131 years

How historic is Marshville?

C

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Marshville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marshville is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #167 of 290 in North Carolina. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Marshville’s overall grade.
Founding era1895, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194015.5% of homes (±8.0) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical NC town 12.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 33%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 43%

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 Marshville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 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 Marshville’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 Marshville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Marshville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Marshville’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
The story so far

Marshville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Marshville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Marshville is a town in Union County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Marshville had a population of 2,522. Marshville is known as the birthplace of country music singer Randy Travis.

Its first post office opened in 1895. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,402 to 2,522 (+5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Marshville, 1895 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895Post officeThe Marshville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1959Born hereRandy Travis is born here
  5. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Marshville, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Marshville, North Carolina 052024Marshville, North Carolina 05Marshville, North Carolina 042024Marshville, North Carolina 04Marshville, North Carolina 032024Marshville, North Carolina 03Marshville, North Carolina 022024Marshville, North Carolina 02Marshville, North Carolina 012024Marshville, North Carolina 01Marshville Welcome Sign on U.S. Route 742023Marshville Welcome Sign on U.S. Route 74
On the map

Marshville on the map, 1970 to 2002

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

Marshville on the 1970 USGS mapMarshville on the 1988 USGS mapMarshville on the 2002 USGS map1970Marshville 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 Marshville.

People over time

Marshville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50019001920194019601980200020202,522

Grew from 349 people in 1900 to 2,522 in 2020, 7 times over.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Marshville’s history

What year was Marshville founded?

The Marshville post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Marshville rank for history?

Marshville is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #167 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.

How old are the homes in Marshville?

16% of Marshville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1972.

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), 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.