A history of Warrenton,
since 1779
Postcards, papers and photographs of Warrenton from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusWarrenton is a town in and the county seat of Warren County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 862 at the 2020 census. Warrenton, now served by U.S. routes 158 and 401, was founded in 1779. It became one of the wealthiest towns in the state from 1840 to 1860, being a trading center of an area of rich tobacco and cotton plantations. It has a large stock of historic architecture buildings. More than 90 percent of its buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and its National Historic District encompasses nearly half its area.
Warrenton was established in 1779. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 862 people in 2010, 851 in 2020. Half of its homes were built before 1952.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Warrenton yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Warrenton’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
3 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewNorth-to-South-Civil-War-POW, 1863: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Warrenton
See all 21 →
Warrenton, decade by decade
1990s
7 historic places in Warrenton
7 places in Warrenton are on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Listed 1980Sledge-Hayley House
Listed 2024Warrenton Historic District (Boundary Increase and Decrease)Listed 1973Coleman-White HouseListed 1976Shady OaksListed 1977Mansfield Thornton HouseListed 2025All Saints Episcopal ChurchListed 2025Warren County Community CenterThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as North-to-South-Civil-War-POW (1863) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (5) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.