Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #52 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Smithfield was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. 9 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 250 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
Smithfield dates its founding to 1777 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Smithfield is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #52 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Smithfield’s 211 sits above most of its state (85% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 256 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Smithfield’s post office has been open since 1793.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Smithfield.
Smithfield, Johnston County's first town and second county seat after Hinton's Quarter, was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly on April 23, 1777.
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.
BuiltWatson-Sanders House is built
Born hereWilliam Cary Renfrow is born hereBuiltHood-Strickland House is built
In the archiveHABS NC,51-SMIT,1- (sheet 1 of 4) - Hastings House, Johnston Street (moved to First Stree…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereGregory Helms is born here
Born hereWillie Smith is born here
Born hereGary Clark is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1933HABS NC,51-SMIT,1- (sheet 1 of 4) - Hastings House, J…
1933HABS NC,51-SMIT,1- (sheet 1 of 4) - Hastings House, J…
1933HABS NC,51-SMIT,1- (sheet 2 of 4) - Hastings House, J…
1933HABS NC,51-SMIT,1- (sheet 2 of 4) - Hastings House, J…
1933HABS NC,51-SMIT,1- (sheet 3 of 4) - Hastings House, J…
1933HABS NC,51-SMIT,1- (sheet 3 of 4) - Hastings House, J…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Smithfield. 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 Smithfield.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Smithfield’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 329 and 11,510 people in every census since 1850.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Smithfield’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1777, according to Wikidata. Smithfield’s post office opened in 1793, and the census of 1850 counted 329 people here.
Smithfield is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #52 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.
9 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Johnston County Courthouse (listed 1979, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Downtown Smithfield Historic District, the Brooklyn Historic District and the North Smithfield Historic District, with 250 contributing buildings. 256 historic buildings in all.
7% of Smithfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1973.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
