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A−History
History · Mount Olive

Mount Olive’s post office opened in 1853, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #58 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 465 buildings. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1890.

1853first post office
5on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mount Olive began

When was Mount Olive founded?

1853

The Mount Olive post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 393 in 18902020 census: 4,198173 years

How historic is Mount Olive?

A−

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Mount Olive’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Olive is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #58 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Olive’s overall grade.
Founding era1853, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.9% of homes (±6.7) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register5 listings, 470 historic buildings, 1,055 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 78%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 80%

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 Mount Olive’s 1,055 sits above most of its state (98% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 470 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% 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 (±6.7 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 Mount Olive’s past

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

A historic districtThe Mount Olive Historic District takes in 465 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mount Olive are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1905 to 1920, drew every building in Mount Olive.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

5 listings protect 470 historic buildings

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

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
470
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Perry-Cherry House
Southerland-Burnette House, built 1924US Post Office, Former, built 1931Perry-Cherry HouseMount Olive High School (Former)Mount Olive Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival4
Colonial Revival2
Neo-Classical1
Italianate1
Queen Anne1
Tudor Revival1
Southerland-Burnette HouseClassical Revival · Built 1924
US Post Office, FormerClassical Revival · Built 1931
All 5 listings
Perry-Cherry HouseBuilding · listed 1986Mount Olive High School (Former)Building · listed 1998Mount Olive Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1999

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

Help out

Start Mount Olive’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Olive’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
Every building

Mount Olive, building by building, 1905–1920

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Mount Olive fire insurance map, 1905, sheet 11905Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Mount Olive came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Olive.

Read it all →

The Mount Olive High School (Former), Mount Olive Historic District, Perry-Cherry House, Southerland-Burnette House, former United States Post Office, and Vernon are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Wilmington & Raleigh Railroad (which was renamed the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad in 1855) completed in 1840 ran through Mt. Olive on land sold to the railroad by Adam Winn Sr., a prominent free black landowner. Today the line is part of the CSX W&W Subdivision.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mount Olive, 1853 to 1981

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853Post officeThe Mount Olive post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1915Born hereMorrie Aderholt is born here
  5. 1924BuiltSoutherland-Burnette House is built
  6. 1931BuiltUS Post Office, Former is built
  7. 1955Born hereBob Boyd is born here
  8. 1977On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1979Born hereJohn R. Bell, IV is born here
  10. 1981Born hereGreg Warren is born here
By decade

Mount Olive, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Mount Olive, North Carolina (2)2019Mount Olive, North Carolina (2)Krafts Studio2019Krafts StudioFormer Mount Olive post office2019Former Mount Olive post officeNCMap-doton-MountOlive2004NCMap-doton-MountOlive
On the map

Mount Olive on the map, 1977 to 1986

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

Mount Olive on the 1977 USGS mapMount Olive on the 1986 USGS map1977Mount Olive 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 Mount Olive.

People over time

Mount Olive, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 4,914

Between 393 and 4,914 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Mount Olive

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Greg WarrenAmerican football player · b. 1981
John R. Bell, IVAmerican politician in North Carolina · b. 1979
Bob BoydProfessional golfer · b. 1955
M
Morrie AderholtAmerican baseball player · b. 1915
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Mount Olive’s post office has been open since 1853.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Southern Mobile Home Park
1cemetery inside Mount Olive
Maplewood

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Mount Olive’s history

What year was Mount Olive founded?

The Mount Olive post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Mount Olive rank for history?

Mount Olive is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #58 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 Mount Olive?

5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Perry-Cherry House (listed 1986, the first), and 1 historic district, the Mount Olive Historic District, with 465 contributing buildings. 470 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Mount Olive?

18% of Mount Olive’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1963.

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 (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.