Zebulon dates to 1906, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #160 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Zebulon was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 305 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1907.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Zebulon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Zebulon is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #160 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Zebulon’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 Zebulon’s 364 sits above most of its state (92% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 317 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1906.
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 Zebulon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1906, the Raleigh and Pamlico Sound Railroad Company decided to bring the railroad through the Whitley and Horton family farms in eastern Wake County. Edgar B. Barbee and Falconer B. Arendell organized the Zebulon Company for development that same year. The company received its charter on February 15, 1906. Shortly thereafter, they began to divide up their 49 acres (20 ha) into lots, blocks, streets and avenues. On February 16, 1907, the town was officially recognized as Zebulon, North Carolina. The town was named after Zebulon Baird Vance, the Governor of North Carolina during the American Civil War. The first election was held in May 1907, and the first elected mayor was Thomas J. Horton.
Passages that mention Zebulon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Wake County, North Carolina1922 · page 294Read the page →
Read the text
village until the railroads made it a good sized country town; Garner grown up on the Southern Railroad, as Apex on the Seaboard; Zebulon and Wendell, sister towns with their great rural High School buildings standing
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
Zebulon, 1833 to 1968
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.
In 1906, according to Wikidata. Zebulon’s post office opened in 1907, and the census of 1910 counted 482 people here.
How does Zebulon rank for history?
Zebulon is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #160 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 Zebulon?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Wakelon School (listed 1976, the first), and 1 historic district, the Zebulon Historic District, with 305 contributing buildings. 317 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Zebulon?
3% of Zebulon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 2000.
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 National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
1916
1939
1939
