Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Bryan Lavender House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1880.
The Pollocksville post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Trent Bridge (1810), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Pollocksville’s history is told.
Peaked at 456 in 1970; 268 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pollocksville’s Wikipedia page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereFurnifold McLendel Simmons is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveFEMA - 489 - Photograph by Sgt. 1st Class Eric Wedeking taken on 09-16-1999 in North Caro…From Wikipedia’s history of Pollocksville.
The town derives its name from Thomas Pollock, a local landowner. The Bryan-Bell Farm, Foscue and Simmons Plantations, Foscue Plantation House, Bryan Lavender House, and Sanderson House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2020Pollocksville, North Carolina 05
2020Pollocksville, North Carolina 04
2020Pollocksville, North Carolina 03
2020Pollocksville, North Carolina 02
2020Pollocksville, North Carolina 01
2017A barber set up shop in a most unlikely place, an old…
2017Vines take hold of an abandoned structure
2017Old, out-of-business stores
2015Pollocksville, North CarolinaEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pollocksville. 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 Pollocksville.
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.
Pollocksville’s post office has been open since 1839. Another post office, Trent Bridge, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Pollocksville post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Bryan Lavender House (listed 1985).
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 Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.
