Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listings are the Oak City Christian Church and the West Martin School. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1900.
Oak City first appears in the census in 1900.
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 Oak City’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oak City. 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 Oak City.
Peaked at 574 in 1960; 266 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oak City’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Oak City yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Oak City, formerly known as Goose Nest, is a town in Martin County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 266 at the 2020 census, down from 317 in 2010.
Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 317 to 266 (-16%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Oak City itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Oak City post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Two places: the Oak City Christian Church (listed 2005) and the West Martin School (2018).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
