Most of Princeville was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Its Register listings are the Eastern Star Baptist Church and the Princeville School. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1999 on and old-book passages.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1898.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Princeville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Princeville is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Princeville’s overall grade.
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 Princeville’s 12.4 sits near the middle of its state (55% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1865.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
As the American Civil War reached its conclusion, formerly enslaved African Americans sought refuge at a temporary Union encampment south of Tarboro, North Carolina along the Tar River. With the assistance of the Freedmen's Bureau, these inhabitants developed their own makeshift settlement at the site and chose the name Freedom Hill in recognition of a small raised area where a Union soldier first announced the Emancipation Proclamation. The land on which they stayed was owned by two white planters, John Lloyd and Lafayette Dancy. There is no evidence that the two ever attempted to remove the freedmen from their properties, probably owing to the initial presence of federal troops and the poor quality of the land, which frequently flooded. The community suffered heavily from poverty during its early years, receiving limited federal aid until the Freedmen's Bureau withdrew from North Car…
Passages that mention Princeville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Edgecombe county, North Carolina1920 · page 430Read the page →
Read the text
In 1890 the negro church in Princeville was built. A church monument with the image of Wooten carved on it was erected to the memory of the Radecue Baptist Church in Princeville.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Princeville, 1865 to 1999
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1865, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Princeville’s post office opened in 1898.
How does Princeville rank for history?
Princeville is more historic than 24% 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.
What is on the National Register in Princeville?
Two places: the Eastern Star Baptist Church (listed 1980) and the Princeville School (2001).
How old are the homes in Princeville?
0.0% of Princeville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1998.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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