Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Howard-Royal House. Below: maps from 1986 on and the census since 1920.
The Salemburg post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Salemburg’s history is told.
Peaked at 742 in 1980; 457 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Salemburg’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Salemburg.
Salemburg was the home of the former Southwood College. The North Carolina Justice Academy operates out of the former college. The academy, a training institution of the North Carolina Department of Justice, has a staff of 82.
The Marion Butler Birthplace and Howard-Royal House were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereWillie Weeks is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Salemburg.
1986Fayetteville sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Salemburg.
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.
The Salemburg post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Howard-Royal House (listed 1986).
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 (3), 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.
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