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History · Rich Square

Rich Square’s post office opened in 1823, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Edgewood and the Duke-Lawrence House. Below: maps from 1974 on.

1823first post office
2on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Rich Square began

When was Rich Square founded?

1823

The Rich Square post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 894203 years
Founding year: the first Rich Square post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Rich Square’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Rich Square are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1823: 203 years of Rich Square.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rich Square’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rich Square’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Rich Square, 1787 to 1974

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1787BuiltDuke-Lawrence House is built
  3. 19th century
  4. 1823Post officeThe Rich Square post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1914Born hereMebane Holoman Burgwyn is born here
  7. 1938Born hereWalter E. Boomer is born here
  8. 1942Born hereKathy Hoyt is born here
  9. 1961Born hereShelia P. Moses is born here
  10. 1974On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Rich Square came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rich Square.

Read it all →

Quakers were some of the earliest settlers in Northampton County, being established there by the early 1750s. The congregation in Rich Square was established in 1760, and was once a center for the Religious Society of Friends in North Carolina. By 1832, they were a minority in Rich Square, though they continued working to relocate former slaves into free states.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Rich Square, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Rich Square, North Carolina 022020Rich Square, North Carolina 02Rich Square, North Carolina 012020Rich Square, North Carolina 01Edgewood Holoman-Outland House2017Edgewood Holoman-Outland HouseNCMap-doton-RichSquare2004NCMap-doton-RichSquare
On the map

Rich Square on the map, 1974 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rich Square. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Rich Square on the 1974 USGS mapRich Square on the 1985 USGS mapRich Square on the 1997 USGS map1974Rich Square sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Rich Square.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Rich Square

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Duke-Lawrence House
EdgewoodDuke-Lawrence House, built 1787
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Georgian1
EdgewoodBuilding
All 2 listings
Duke-Lawrence HouseBuilding · listed 1980

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Rich Square

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Shelia P. MosesAmerican writer · b. 1961
Walter E. BoomerAssistant Commandant of the Marine Corps · b. 1938
K
Kathy HoytAmerican politician · b. 1942
M
Mebane Holoman BurgwynAmerican writer · b. 1914
S
Stu MartinAmerican baseball player · b. 1912
F
Florenza Moore GrantAmerican civil rights activist · b. 1921

Questions about Rich Square’s history

What year was Rich Square founded?

The Rich Square post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Rich Square?

Two places: the Edgewood (listed 2001) and the Duke-Lawrence House (1980).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.