Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #18 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 825 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1850.
Washington dates its founding to 1776 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Washington is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #18 of 290 in North Carolina. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Washington’s 853 sits above most of its state (97% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 830 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Washington. 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 Washington.
From Wikipedia’s history of Washington.
The settlement at the current location of the city was founded in the 1770s by James Bonner on his land and was known as Forks of the Tar. In 1776, it was renamed Washington. During the American Revolutionary War, Washington served as a supply port when major neighboring ports were under British siege.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Washington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Washington led the army a little way up the river, the drums and fifes silent, until he reached the present site of the village of Taylorsville, which is about eight miles above the city of Trenton, but on the Pennsylvania side. If you ever ride northward from the capital of New Jersey, over the Belvidere Division of the Pennsylvania Railway, the train will halt at a station
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
night. Not the least important of the many claims upon his time was the superintendence of the erection of the public buildings in the future city of Washington, or, the Federal City, as it was then called. At that time it was practically nothing but a spot on the map, and not much more than a beginning had been made upon the plans, yet Washington saw the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Washington stationed his forces near Wilmington, Delaware, immediately upon leaving Philadelphia, and for about two weeks he watched the enemy, skirmishing with their advance guard as they moved forward and falling back slowly while he searched for a favorable position at which to check their march. Between them and Philadelphia, and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
entered the tent of Washington, who had two callers — Generals Greene and Sullivan, both in the prime of life. The famous Quaker leader from Rhode Island was handsome and bore no slight resemblance to Washington himself.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereSusan Dimock is born here
In the archive"Assassination of Two Union Pickets, at Washington, N.C., by Rebel Guerillas."
Born hereJosephus Daniels is born here
Born hereWilliam Churchill deMille is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereMurray Hamilton is born here
In the archiveBaldwin's Washington, North Carolina City Directory [1937]2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Washington’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,599 and 9,939 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Washington’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Washington’s post office has been open since 1788.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1776, according to Wikidata. Washington’s post office opened in 1788, and the census of 1850 counted 2,015 people here.
Washington is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #18 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.
6 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Bank of Washington, West End Branch (listed 1971, the first), and 2 historic districts, the North Market Street Historic District and the Washington Historic District, with 825 contributing buildings. 830 historic buildings in all.
13% of Washington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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 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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