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Second Yadkin County JailSecond Yadkin County Jail · Photo: G Keith Hall · CC BY-SA 3.0
CHistory
History · Yadkinville

Yadkinville dates to 1850, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #173 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

Most of Yadkinville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Second Yadkin County Jail. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1870.

1850founded
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Yadkinville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Yadkinville began

When was Yadkinville founded?

1850

Yadkinville dates its founding to 1850 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 133 in 18702020 census: 2,995176 years

How historic is Yadkinville?

C

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1853.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Yadkinville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Yadkinville is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #173 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 Yadkinville’s overall grade.
Founding era1850, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.7% of homes (±3.5) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 3.3 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 31%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 40%

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 Yadkinville’s 3.3 sits near the middle of its state (44% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). Two sources give 1850.

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 Yadkinville’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18913 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1984. Watch Yadkinville change.Then and nowOne place photographed years apart. Drag to compare.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Yadkinville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFirst Yadkin County Courthouse: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Yadkinville on the map, 1891 to 1984

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

Yadkinville on the 1891 USGS mapYadkinville on the 1966 USGS mapYadkinville on the 1984 USGS map1891Yadkinville sheet · 1:125,000

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

Then & now

The same spot, 82 years apart

Drag across each photo to compare.

First Yadkin County Courthouse postcardFirst Yadkin County Courthouse19252007
First Yadkin County CourthouseMatched from the two captions
The story

How Yadkinville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Yadkinville.

Read it all →

The area was chosen as the county seat with the founding of Yadkin County in 1850. It was first known as Wilson, in honor of Louis D. Wilson, a legislator who died in the Mexican War. However, the name was changed to Yadkinville in 1852 after it was discovered that another area, Wilson, North Carolina, already had the name. At the time the county seat was established, there was only one house in town. Yadkinville was incorporated in 1857.

The first courthouse, a two-story brick building, was built in 1853 by William White of Hamptonville, North Carolina. The bricks were handmade on a farm north of town. The courthouse was torn down in 1958 and a new building was constructed.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Yadkinville, 1850 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850
    FoundingYadkinville is established
  3. 1853Post officeThe Yadkinville post office opens
  4. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1892BuiltSecond Yadkin County Jail is built
  6. 20th century
  7. 1925In the archiveFirst Yadkin County Courthouse
  8. 1946Born hereLee Zachary is born here
  9. 1958In the archiveFirst Yadkin County Courthouse postcard (cropped)
  10. 1969Born hereMo Cowan is born here
By decade

Yadkinville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1950s2 items
First Yadkin County Courthouse1925First Yadkin County CourthouseFirst Yadkin County Courthouse postcard (cropped)1958First Yadkin County Courthouse postcard (cropped)Postcard
1960s–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
Today3 recent
Yadkin Cultural Arts Center2022Yadkin Cultural Arts CenterFirst Yadkin County Courthouse postcard2007First Yadkin County Courthouse postcardPostcardNCMap-doton-Yadkinville2004NCMap-doton-Yadkinville
On the National Register

1 historic place in Yadkinville

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Second Yadkin County Jail
Second Yadkin County Jail, built 1892
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Utilitarian Vernacular1
Second Yadkin County JailUtilitarian Vernacular · Built 1892

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

People over time

Yadkinville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000188019001920194019601980200020202,995

Grew from 133 people in 1870 to 2,995 in 2020, more than tenfold.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Yadkinville

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

See all →
Mo Cowan29th United States Senator from Massachusetts (… · b. 1969
Lee ZacharyAmerican politician · b. 1946

Questions about Yadkinville’s history

What year was Yadkinville founded?

In 1850, according to Wikidata. Yadkinville’s post office opened in 1853, and the census of 1870 counted 133 people here.

How does Yadkinville rank for history?

Yadkinville is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #173 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 Yadkinville?

One place: the Second Yadkin County Jail (listed 1988).

How old are the homes in Yadkinville?

5% of Yadkinville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1982.

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 (5), Wikidata (1), 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.