1 of Sneads Ferry’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #213 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Yopps Meeting House. Most of Sneads Ferry was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1948 on.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sneads Ferry is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #213 of 290 in North Carolina. 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 Sneads Ferry’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 Sneads Ferry’s 3.7 sits near the middle of its state (44% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Sneads Ferry’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1728, Edmund Ennett established a ferry on the banks of the New River. Some of Ennett's descendants still reside in the area. Originally called "Ennett's Ferry," it became a key element in the Post road linking Suffolk, Virginia with Charleston, South Carolina. By 1759, two ferries operated there, one from each bank of New River. Robert Snead was the proprietor of the ferry on the north shore, so the community that developed on the banks of the crossing site became known as "Sneads Ferry." Caroline Pearson propelled the ferry until it was replaced with a bridge in 1939. The village is heavily dependent on the seafood industry. The village annually catches over 385 tons of shrimp, 25 tons of flounder, and approximately 493 tons of other seafood like clams, scallops, oysters, mullet, spot, grouper, soft shell and hard shell crabs, sea bass, and more. The town holds an annual Shrimp Fes…
Sneads Ferry is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #213 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 Sneads Ferry?
One place: the Yopps Meeting House (listed 1999).
How old are the homes in Sneads Ferry?
0.0% of Sneads Ferry’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.