Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 231 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1880.
The Mount Pleasant post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Pleasant is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Pleasant’s 1,045 sits above most of its state (98% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 233 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Pleasant’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltFirst Congregational Church is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Mount Pleasant.
The First Congregational Church, Lentz Hotel, Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute Historic District, and Mount Pleasant Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Pleasant. 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 Mount Pleasant.
Grew from 314 people in 1880 to 1,671 in 2020, 5 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Pleasant’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Mount Pleasant itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Mount Pleasant post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Mount Pleasant is more historic than 94% 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.
4 listings: 2 buildings and 2 historic districts, the Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute Historic District and the Mount Pleasant Historic District, with 231 contributing buildings. 233 historic buildings in all.
22% of Mount Pleasant’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, 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.
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