The story
Read it all →How Tobaccoville came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Tobaccoville.
The Old Richmond Schoolhouse and Gymnasium was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Tobaccoville
Tobaccoville’s post office opened in 1879, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #147 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Tobaccoville was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listing is the Old Richmond Schoolhouse and Gymnasium. Below: maps from 1971 on and the census since 2000.
1879first post office
1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Tobaccoville began
When was Tobaccoville founded?
1879
The Tobaccoville post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1991. Two smaller post offices, Old Richmond (1853) and Reeds (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,209 in 20002020 census: 2,578147 years
How historic is Tobaccoville?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Tobaccoville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1991.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tobaccoville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tobaccoville is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #147 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tobaccoville’s overall grade.
Founding era1879, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19409.2% of homes (±5.0) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 7.5 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 49%
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 Tobaccoville’s 7.5 sits near the middle of its state (50% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1991.
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 Tobaccoville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Tobaccoville’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tobaccoville’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Tobaccoville’s post office has been open since 1879. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Old Richmond
Reeds
Tobaccoville
18501940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Tobaccoville, 1853 to 1971
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1853Post officeThe Old Richmond post office opens
- 1879Post officeThe Reeds post office opens
- 1879Post officeThe Tobaccoville post office opens
- 1894Post officeThe Old Richmond post office closes
- 1894Post officeThe Reeds post office closes
- 20th century
- 1944Born hereRay Chandler is born here
- 1971
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Tobaccoville, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2011On the map
Tobaccoville on the map, 1971 to 1987
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tobaccoville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1971Rural Hall sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Tobaccoville.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Tobaccoville
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2009
Old Richmond Schoolhouse and Gymnasium
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Tobaccoville, census by census
Between 2,209 and 2,578 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tobaccoville’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Tobaccoville’s history
What year was Tobaccoville founded?
The Tobaccoville post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1991.
How does Tobaccoville rank for history?
Tobaccoville is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #147 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 Tobaccoville?
One place: the Old Richmond Schoolhouse and Gymnasium (listed 2009).
How old are the homes in Tobaccoville?
9% of Tobaccoville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1980.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.