Siler City’s post office opened in 1886, and 11 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #109 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Siler City was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. 11 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 91 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1969 on, and the census since 1890.
The Siler City post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Chatham Court House (1794), Silers Store (1820) and Loves Creek (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 254 in 18902020 census: 7,702140 years
How historic is Siler City?
B
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Siler City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Siler City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Siler City is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #109 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Siler City’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 Siler City’s 133 sits above most of its state (80% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 106 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Siler City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Siler City began when Plikard Dederic Siler and his wife, Elizabeth Hartsoe Siler, settled about four miles north of the town's current location. The couple briefly lived in Pennsylvania, then Virginia, and then settled near Lacy's Creek (the location near today's Siler City). They had 10 children.
In recent years, Siler City has become a suburb of Greensboro and the Research Triangle Park.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Siler City post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Siler City rank for history?
Siler City is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #109 of 290 in North Carolina. 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 Siler City?
11 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Gregson-Hadley House (listed 1985, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Siler City Commercial Historic District, the East Raleigh Street Historic District and the North Third Avenue Historic District, with 91 contributing buildings. 106 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Siler City?
9% of Siler City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (11), 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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