Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 30 buildings.
The Pilot Mountain post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pilot Mountain is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. 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 Pilot Mountain’s 216 sits above most of its state (86% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 32 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% 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 Pilot Mountain’s history is told.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Pilot Mountain.
The Bank of Pilot Mountain was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Pilot Mountain inspired the town of Mount Pilot, a larger town near Mayberry, in The Andy Griffith Show.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Pilot Mountain post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Pilot Mountain is more historic than 65% 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.
Three places: the Bank of Pilot Mountain, (Former) (listed 1997), the Pilot Hosiery Mill (2021) and the Pilot Mountain Downtown Historic District (2022).
13% of Pilot Mountain’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
2022
2004