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CHistory
History · Winterville

Winterville dates to 1897, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #182 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Cox-Ange House. Most of Winterville was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 1900.

1897founded
1on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Winterville began

When was Winterville founded?

1897

Winterville dates its founding to 1897 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 243 in 19002020 census: 10,462129 years

How historic is Winterville?

C

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1891.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Winterville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winterville is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #182 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Winterville’s overall grade.
Founding era1897, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.3% of homes (±1.2) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 4 historic buildings, 3.7 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 28%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 37%

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 Winterville’s 3.7 sits near the middle of its state (45% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1897.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Winterville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Winterville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19033 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1998. Watch Winterville change.Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Winterville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Winterville on the map, 1903 to 1998

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

Winterville on the 1903 USGS mapWinterville on the 1981 USGS mapWinterville on the 1998 USGS map1903Winterville 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 Winterville.

Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
ClevewoodDixons CrossroadsRobinson HeightsShamrock Terrace

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

The story

How Winterville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Winterville.

Read it all →

The town was founded on March 3, 1897 by Amos Graves Cox (AG Cox), an inventor, farmer, and businessman who initially moved to the area in 1880 and who began by refining and manufacturing a cotton planter invented by his father. While AG Cox initially planned to name the town after his family, due to the common nature of the name "Cox", he ultimately chose to use the name of a town where his cotton planters were sold -- Winterville, Georgia. The Town's public middle school, AG Cox Middle School, is named after him.

The Cox-Ange House and Renston Rural Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Winterville, 1891 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Winrerville post office opens
  3. 1897
    FoundingWinterville is established
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1904BuiltCox-Ange House is built
  7. 1927Born hereCharles McLawhorn is born here
  8. 1986Born hereDerek Cox is born here
By decade

Winterville, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Winterville, North Carolina2020Winterville, North CarolinaSouth Central High School2013South Central High SchoolNCMap-doton-Winterville2004NCMap-doton-Winterville
On the National Register

1 historic place in Winterville

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
2000
Cox-Ange House
Cox-Ange House, built 1904
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Queen Anne1
Cox-Ange HouseVernacular · Built 1904

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

People over time

Winterville, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,000190019201940196019802000202010,462

Grew from 243 people in 1900 to 10,462 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Winterville

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

See all →
Derek CoxPlayer of American football · b. 1986
C
Charles McLawhornAmerican politician in North Carolina · b. 1927
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Greenville16 historic placesB+

Questions about Winterville’s history

What year was Winterville founded?

In 1897, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Winterville’s post office opened in 1891, and the census of 1900 counted 243 people here.

How does Winterville rank for history?

Winterville is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #182 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 Winterville?

One place: the Cox-Ange House (listed 2000).

How old are the homes in Winterville?

1% of Winterville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 2001.

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 (3), 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.