Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #261 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Southern Shores was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1980.
More historic than 2% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Southern Shores is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #261 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 Southern Shores’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Southern Shores’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Southern Shores yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Southern Shores is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. It is located on the Outer Banks and the population was 3,107 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,714 to 3,090 (+14%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Southern Shores. 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 Southern Shores.
Grew from 395 people in 1980 to 3,090 in 2020, 7 times over.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Southern Shores’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Southern Shores itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Southern Shores is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #261 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.
0.0% of Southern Shores’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (12), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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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