Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #174 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1969 on, and the census since 1890.
The Swepsonville post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Swepsonville is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #174 of 290 in North Carolina. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Swepsonville’s 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: 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 →
From Wikipedia’s history of Swepsonville.
Swepsonville was named in honor of a textile mill established in the area in 1868 by George William Swepson. It was first incorporated as a municipality in 1887, though its charter was repealed in 1901. The town was reincorporated in 1997.
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.
In the archiveOld company house on wash day
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1940Old company house on wash day
1940Old company house on wash day. Swepsonville, North Ca…
1940Strange painting on a wrecked car. Swepsonville, Nort…
1940Houses in the company town of Swepsonville, North Car…
1940The boardinghouse in the company town of Swepsonville…
1940Company houses in the mill town of Swepsonville, Nort…
1940Company house on the main street of the mill town of …
1940Company house on the main street of the mill town of …Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Swepsonville. 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 Swepsonville.
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 Swepsonville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 326 people in 1890 to 2,445 in 2020, 7 times over.
6 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Swepsonville’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.
The Swepsonville post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Swepsonville is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #174 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.
13% of Swepsonville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 2004.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (7), 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.
2008
2008
2008
2004