Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Vanceboro

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Vanceboro

Vanceboro’s post office opened in 1881, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1880.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Vanceboro began

When was Vanceboro founded?

1881

The Vanceboro post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 146 in 18802020 census: 869145 years
Founding year: the first Vanceboro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Vanceboro’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vanceboro’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Vanceboro, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Vanceboro yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Vanceboro is a town in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Vanceboro had a population of 869. Originally called Swift Creek, residents renamed the town for Zebulon B. Vance after he visited there during his 1876 campaign for governor. It is part of the New Bern, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,005 to 869 (-14%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Vanceboro, 1881 to 1976

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Vanceboro post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1952Born hereJoseph Freeman is born here
  6. 1976Born hereAnthony Wright is born here
By decade

Vanceboro, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
The Mill Stream [1924]Date?The Mill Stream [1924]Book
Today2 recent
Vanceboro, North Carolina2020Vanceboro, North CarolinaVance Mill Market2020Vance Mill Market
On the map

Vanceboro on the map, 1902 to 1983

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

Vanceboro on the 1902 USGS mapVanceboro on the 1983 USGS map1902Vanceboro sheet · 1:62,500

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

People over time

Vanceboro, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,005

Between 146 and 1,005 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Vanceboro

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

See all →
Anthony WrightAmerican football quarterback · b. 1976
Joseph FreemanMormon leader · b. 1952

Questions about Vanceboro’s history

What year was Vanceboro founded?

The Vanceboro post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.