Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The Mineral Springs post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mineral Springs is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #209 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Mineral Springs’ 12.1 sits near the middle of its state (54% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mineral Springs’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mineral Springs yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Mineral Springs is a town in Union County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,159 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,639 to 3,159 (+20%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mineral Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mineral Springs.
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.
Grew from 84 people in 1920 to 3,159 in 2020, more than tenfold.
5 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mineral Springs’ Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Mineral Springs post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Mineral Springs is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #209 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.
One place: the Pleasant Grove Camp Meeting Ground (listed 1973).
1% of Mineral Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1993.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
