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BHistory
History · Wentworth

Wentworth dates to 1787, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #102 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Most of Wentworth was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listings are the Wright Tavern and the Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1971 on, and the census since 2000.

1787founded
2on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
13old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wentworth’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wentworth began

When was Wentworth founded?

1787

Wentworth dates its founding to 1787 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 2000.

First census: 2,779 in 20002020 census: 2,662239 years

How historic is Wentworth?

B

More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1827.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Wentworth’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wentworth is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #102 of 290 in North Carolina. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wentworth’s overall grade.
Founding era1787, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19407.4% of homes (±6.0) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register2 listings, 7.4 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 61%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 65%

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 Wentworth’s 7.4 sits near the middle of its state (50% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points). Two sources give 1787.

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 →

What stands out about Wentworth’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos13 old photos, postcards and papers, 1907–1985.Deep rootsEstablished in 1787: 239 years of Wentworth.
★ What stands out · By decade

Wentworth, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s2 items
Rockingham County Courthouse North Carolina1907Rockingham County Courthouse North CarolinaLibby holman1932Libby holman
1940s–1970snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1980s11 items
Log cabins1985Log cabinsElderly woman washing dishes in the kitchen of a cabin1985Elderly woman washing dishes in the kitchen of a cabinLog cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's great-grandfather, Pleasant Jiles Carter (1847-1931), and grandfathe…1985Log cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's gr…Log cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's great-grandfather, Pleasant Jiles Carter (1847-1931), and grandfathe…1985Log cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's gr…Photographer Carol M. Highsmith's family reunion at the log cabins where her Grandfather and Great Grandfather were born1985Photographer Carol M. Highsmith's family reunion at t…Kate Carter sitting at a barn door on the farm where Carol Highsmith's grandfather and great-grandfather were born1985Kate Carter sitting at a barn door on the farm where …Log cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's great-grandfather, Pleasant Jiles Carter (1847-1931), and grandfathe…1985Log cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's gr…Log cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's great-grandfather, Pleasant Jiles Carter (1847-1931), and grandfathe…1985Log cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's gr…Kate Carter, on her 90th birthday, poses in the log cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's great-grandfather, P…1985Kate Carter, on her 90th birthday, poses in the log c…Kate Carter with a neighbor at the water well at the log cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's great-grandfath…1985Kate Carter with a neighbor at the water well at the …Kate Carter, on her 90th birthday, poses in the log cabins where photographer Carol M. Highsmith's great-grandfather, P…1985Kate Carter, on her 90th birthday, poses in the log c…
1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Wentworth, North Carolina2019Wentworth, North CarolinaRockingham County Courthouse, North Carolina2019Rockingham County Courthouse, North CarolinaFormer Rockingham County Jail2019Former Rockingham County JailNCMap-doton-Wentworth2004NCMap-doton-Wentworth
Timeline

Wentworth, 1787 to 1985

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1787
    FoundingWentworth is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1827Post officeThe Wentworth post office opens
  5. 1849Born hereJames W. Reid is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1907In the archiveRockingham County Courthouse North Carolina
  8. 1932In the archiveLibby holman
  9. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1985In the archiveLog cabins
The story

How Wentworth came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wentworth.

Read it all →

Wentworth was established as "Rockingham Courthouse" in 1787 making it the oldest settlement in Rockingham County. The post office there was established in November 1794. The settlement was chartered as Wentworth in 1798. Both Wentworth and Rockingham County were named in homage to the same individual; the Marquis of Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth. Watson-Wentworth served two terms as the prime minister of the United Kingdom and greatly advocated for colonial independence.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Wentworth on the map, 1971 to 2002

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

Wentworth on the 1971 USGS mapWentworth on the 1994 USGS mapWentworth on the 2002 USGS map1971Southwest Eden sheet · 1:24,000

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Rockingham County Courthouse North Carolina
Retake this viewRockingham County Courthouse North Carolina, 1907

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Wentworth’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Wentworth

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Wright Tavern
Wright TavernWentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Greek Revival1
Wright TavernFederal
Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and CemeteryGreek Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Wentworth, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00020002020Peak: 2,807

Between 2,662 and 2,807 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Wentworth’s post office has been open since 1827.

Hamlets and corners on the map
University Estates
Gone or out of use
Gunns Storelocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Wentworth
MacedoniaWentworth Methodist Church

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Wentworth’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewRockingham County Courthouse North Caro…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Wentworth’s history

What year was Wentworth founded?

In 1787, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Wentworth’s post office opened in 1827, and the census of 2000 counted 2,779 people here.

How does Wentworth rank for history?

Wentworth is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #102 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 Wentworth?

Two places: the Wright Tavern (listed 1970) and the Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery (1986).

How old are the homes in Wentworth?

7% of Wentworth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1985.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (11), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.