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BHistory
History · Summerfield

Summerfield’s post office opened in 1812, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #117 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Most of Summerfield was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 33 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1969 on, and the census since 1980.

1812first post office
3on the National Register
0.9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Summerfield’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Summerfield began

When was Summerfield founded?

1812

The Summerfield post office opened in 1812, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hillsdale (1835), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,680 in 19802020 census: 10,951214 years

How historic is Summerfield?

B

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Summerfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Summerfield’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Summerfield is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #117 of 290 in North Carolina. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Summerfield’s overall grade.
Founding era1812, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19400.9% of homes (±0.9) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register3 listings, 37 historic buildings, 33.3 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 57%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 60%

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 Summerfield’s 33.3 sits above most of its state (65% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 37 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 Summerfield’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Summerfield Historic District takes in 33 historic buildings.Deep rootsA post office since 1812: 214 years of Summerfield.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Summerfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Summerfield’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHistoric old general store in rural Nor…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

3 listings protect 37 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
37
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Hillsdale Brick Store
Hillsdale Brick StoreSummerfield Historic DistrictSummerfield School Gymnasium and Community Center, built 1939
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Queen Anne1
Romanesque1
Bungalow1
Craftsman1
Colonial Revival1
All 3 listings
Hillsdale Brick StoreBuilding · listed 1982Summerfield Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2005Summerfield School Gymnasium and Community CenterBuilding · listed 2012

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Timeline

Summerfield, 1812 to 2001

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1812Post officeThe Summerfield post office opens
  3. 1835Post officeThe Hillsdale post office opens
  4. 1873Born hereGeorge Stephens is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900Born hereDave Harris is born here
  7. 1902Post officeThe Hillsdale post office closes
  8. 1939BuiltSummerfield School Gymnasium and Community Center is built
  9. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1980In the archiveHistoric old general store in rural North Carolina
  11. 1989Born herePatrick Ball is born here
  12. 21st century
  13. 2001Born hereElizabeth Kitley is born here
The story

How Summerfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Summerfield.

Read it all →

The area was settled in about 1769 by Charles Bruce and acquired the name Bruce's Crossroads. In February 1781 patriot forces under General Henry Lee III and British forces under General Banastre Tarleton skirmished at the crossroads during the American Revolutionary War. The Patriots won the battle and forced the British cavalry to retreat. In 1812 a post office was established, and the community was renamed Summerfield, in homage to evangelist John Summerfield.

Summerfield School Gymnasium and Community Center has a gym that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. The Summerfield Historic District was listed in 2005.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Summerfield, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Historic old general store in rural North Carolina1980Historic old general store in rural North Carolina
1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Summerfield Historic District 032022Summerfield Historic District 03Summerfield Historic District 022022Summerfield Historic District 02Summerfield Historic District 012022Summerfield Historic District 01Summerfield2012Summerfield
On the map

Summerfield on the map, 1969 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Summerfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Summerfield on the 1969 USGS mapSummerfield on the 1984 USGS mapSummerfield on the 1994 USGS map1969Summerfield sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Summerfield.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Historic old general store in rural North Carolina
Retake this viewHistoric old general store in rural North Carolina, 1980

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Summerfield’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Summerfield, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00019802000202010,951

Grew from 1,680 people in 1980 to 10,951 in 2020, 6 times over.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Summerfield’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Summerfield

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
P
Patrick BallAmerican actor · b. 1989
Dave HarrisAmerican baseball player · b. 1900
Elizabeth KitleyAmerican basketball player · b. 2001
G
George StephensAmerican journalist and gridiron football player · b. 1873
E
Elissa CunaneAmerican basketball player · b. 2000
J
Johnny RumleyAmerican racing driver · b. 1957
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Summerfield’s post office has been open since 1812. Another post office, Hillsdale, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Summerfield
1812–today
Hillsdale
1835–1902
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hillsdale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Greensboro61 historic placesA−StokesdaleIts storyC−Oak Ridge4 historic placesB

Questions about Summerfield’s history

What year was Summerfield founded?

The Summerfield post office opened in 1812, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Summerfield rank for history?

Summerfield is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #117 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 Summerfield?

Three places: the Hillsdale Brick Store (listed 1982), the Summerfield Historic District (2005) and the Summerfield School Gymnasium and Community Center (2012).

How old are the homes in Summerfield?

0.9% of Summerfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 2000.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.