Mocksville’s post office opened in 1823, and 8 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns · #47 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Hinton Rowan Helper House, a National Historic Landmark, and three historic districts with 176 buildings between them. Most of Mocksville was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1969 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: the first Mocksville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mocksville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mocksville is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #47 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mocksville’s overall grade.
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 Mocksville’s 300 sits above most of its state (90% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 182 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 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 Mocksville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Mocksville was incorporated as a town in 1839. The town was named for the original owner of the town site, previously referred to as "Mocks Old Field".
George E. Barnhardt House, Boxwood Lodge, Cana Store and Post Office, Jesse Clement House, Cooleemee, Davie County Courthouse, Davie County Jail, Downtown Mocksville Historic District, Hinton Rowan Helper House, Hodges Business College, McGuire-Setzer House, North Main Street Historic District, and Salisbury Street Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Passages that mention Mocksville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Methodism in Davie County1890 · page 37Read the page →
Read the text
Whitaker’s church that has been noti rGiain th school house, and in 1850 moved to Sain’s school house. We now have a very good church 3% miles north of Mocksville, erected about eight years ago. WESLEY CHAPEL The church is three miles west of Farmington.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Mocksville, 1823 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Mocksville’s post office has been open since 1823.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Booetown
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mocksville
JoppaRose
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Mocksville’s history
What year was Mocksville founded?
The Mocksville post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mocksville rank for history?
Mocksville is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #47 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.
What is on the National Register in Mocksville?
8 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Hinton Rowan Helper House (a National Historic Landmark since 1973) and the Davie County Jail (listed 1973, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Downtown Mocksville Historic District, the North Main Street Historic District and the Salisbury Street Historic District, with 176 contributing buildings. 182 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Mocksville?
8% of Mocksville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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