Wake Forest’s post office opened in 1823, and 17 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #94 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Wake Forest was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2009. 17 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 354 buildings between them. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1880.
From Wake Forest’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Wake Forest began
When was Wake Forest founded?
1823
The Wake Forest post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1880. Three smaller post offices, Forestville (1839), Wake Forest College (1873) and Wyatt (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 456 in 18802020 census: 47,601203 years
How historic is Wake Forest?
B
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Wake Forest post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1880.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Wake Forest’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wake Forest is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #94 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wake Forest’s overall grade.
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 Wake Forest’s 71.7 sits above most of its state (71% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 379 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% 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 (±0.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1880.
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 Wake Forest’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1832, Dr. Calvin Jones, originally from Massachusetts, bought 615 acres (2.49 km2) of forested land in Wake County, North Carolina. He built his plantation here. The sparsely populated area became known as the Forest of Wake, or Wake Forest. Jones sold his farm to the North Carolina Baptist Convention for $2,000, who opened the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute, later Wake Forest College, on the site. The Raleigh & Gaston Railroad, completed in 1840, established a depot in nearby Forestville that stimulated the school and surrounding village. College leaders convinced the railroad to move the depot even closer to the college in 1874, leading to more economic development. This community was incorporated as the "Town of Wake Forest College" in 1880. In 1909, the word "College" was removed from the name of the town. The college moved to the much larger city of Winston-Salem in 1956. So…
Passages that mention Wake Forest, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Wake County, North Carolina1922 · page 209Read the page →
Read the text
County. Saint Mary's school in Raleigh was at first a boys' school. It was opened in 1834 but was soon changed to what it has remained. Pleasant Grove Academy at Wake Forest was another girls' school of this county. Wake Forest College was founded by the Baptist denomination, and located on the plantation of Dr. Calvin Jones in the year
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Wake County, North Carolina1922 · page 295Read the page →
Read the text
Wake Forest has been a town since 1833, when Wake Forest College began its beneficent career, and now it has beside the college, its own cotton factory, in its own country suburb.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Wake Forest, 1820 to 2002
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Wake Forest post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1880.
How does Wake Forest rank for history?
Wake Forest is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #94 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 Wake Forest?
17 listings: 13 buildings, among them the Powell House (listed 1974, the first), and 4 historic districts with 354 contributing buildings. 379 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Wake Forest?
2% of Wake Forest’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 2009.
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 the Library of Congress (8), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (17), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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