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History · Greensboro

Greensboro dates to 1781, and 59% of its homes were built before 1940

6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 29 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.

1781founded
6on the National Register
59%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Greensboro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Greensboro began

When was Greensboro founded?

1781

Greensboro dates its founding to 1781 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 482 in 18802020 census: 264245 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1812.The full story ↓

What stands out about Greensboro’s past

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

On the map since 19004 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1973. Watch Greensboro change.Old housesHalf of Greensboro’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 651 in 1950; 264 people lived here in 2020.A historic districtThe Greensboro Historic District takes in 29 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · On the map

Greensboro on the map, 1900 to 1973

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

Greensboro on the 1900 USGS mapGreensboro on the 1931 USGS mapGreensboro on the 1964 USGS mapGreensboro on the 1973 USGS map1900Masontown 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 Greensboro.

The story

How Greensboro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greensboro.

Read it all →

Like much of the region, Greensboro can trace its roots back to Native American settlement, to the Mingo tribes of the Northern Iroquois. What was to later become Greensboro was first known to the Mingo as "Delight", so named in recognition of the rich farmland that stretched along the banks of the Monongahela River. As early as 1752, settlers from the east and south began to stake their claims in the lands along the Monongahela. The first white settler of Delight was explorer-trader John Badolet, who was a close friend of John Minor. Minor was the leader of the first group to settle in the area presently known as Mapletown, to the northwest of Greensboro in Monongahela Township.

ChaptersThe beginning of settlementEarly developmentThe industrial era and today

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Greensboro, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 651

Peaked at 651 in 1950; 264 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Greensboro, 1781 to 1994

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1781
    FoundingGreensboro is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1804Born hereJohn M. Millikin is born here
  5. 1812Post officeThe Greensburg post office opens
  6. 1828Post officeThe Greensburg post office closes
  7. 1828Post officeThe Greensboro post office opens
  8. 1857BuiltAlexander V. Boughner House is built
  9. 1877Born hereAlex Pearson is born here
  10. 1884Born hereJoe Knotts is born here
  11. 20th century
  12. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1909In the archiveRobert Jones Burdette, photo by Marceau (Out West, 1909)
  14. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 651
  15. 1952Born hereTodd Tamanend Clark is born here
  16. 1994In the archiveDwelling foundation walls above retaining wall, facing north. - Monongahela Navigation Co…
By decade

Greensboro, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Robert Jones Burdette, photo by Marceau (Out West, 1909)1909Robert Jones Burdette, photo by Marceau (Out West, 19…
1910s–1980snothing 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
1990s4 items
Dwelling foundation walls above retaining wall, facing north. - Monongahela Navigation Company Lock and Dam No. 7, Rive…1994Dwelling foundation walls above retaining wall, facin…Foundation of lock house from above, looking south. - Monongahela Navigation Company Lock and Dam No. 7, River Mile No.…1994Foundation of lock house from above, looking south. -…Foundations of old lock dwelling, looking south (note splayed window openings and nailer boards). - Monongahela Navigat…1994Foundations of old lock dwelling, looking south (note…Standing on lightpost and day beacon, haer architect Christopher Marston points to stone retaining wall at site of old …1994Standing on lightpost and day beacon, haer architect …
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.

Robert Jones Burdette, photo by Marceau (Out West, 1909)
Retake this viewRobert Jones Burdette, photo by Marceau (Out West, 1909), 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

6 listings protect 34 historic buildings

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

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
34
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Alexander V. Boughner House
Alexander V. Boughner House, built 1857Greensboro Public SchoolJames Jones HouseJames Parreco HousePeters-Graham HouseGreensboro Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Italianate2
Greek Revival1
Romanesque1
Early 20th Century American Movements1
Vernacular1
Queen Anne1
Alexander V. Boughner HouseGreek Revival · Built 1857
Greensboro Public SchoolRomanesque
James Jones HouseItalianate
James Parreco HouseEarly 20th Century American Movements
Peters-Graham HouseVernacular
Greensboro Historic DistrictItalianate

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Greensboro

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

See all →
John M. MillikinAmerican politician · b. 1804
A
Alex PearsonAmerican baseball player · b. 1877
J
Joe KnottsAmerican baseball player · b. 1884
T
Todd Tamanend ClarkAmerican musician · b. 1952
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Greensboro’s post office has been open since 1828. Another post office, Greensburg, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Greensburg
1812–1828
Greensboro
1828–today
18101920today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Greensboro
GreensboroGreensboro Presbyterian Church

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

Help out

Finish Greensboro’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewRobert Jones Burdette, photo by Marceau…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Monongahela Township4 historic placesA−Nicholson Township1 historic placeA+

Questions about Greensboro’s history

What year was Greensboro founded?

In 1781, according to Wikidata. Greensboro’s post office opened in 1812, and the census of 1880 counted 482 people here.

What is on the National Register in Greensboro?

6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Alexander V. Boughner House (listed 1995, the first), and 1 historic district, the Greensboro Historic District, with 29 contributing buildings. 34 historic buildings in all.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), 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) 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.