RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Hoke County >> RaefordIndex...

Welcome to Raeford ...

The city of Raeford is located in Hoke County<1> and is the County Seat for Hoke County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Raeford, you might consider that their post office opened in 1885.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Raeford has a population of 4,948 people<2> (see below for details).

Raeford is 250 feet [76 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Raeford lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Raeford: 910 & 472<4>

The ZIP code for Raeford: 28376<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Raeford had an population of 4,948 people. This is an increase of 7.31% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 46.13% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Raeford had a population of 4,611 people (or 9.71% of the total population of Hoke County). This makes Raeford the county's most populous community.

The population of Raeford represents 0.05% of the total population of North Carolina (which has 9,535,483 people), making it the state's 141st most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 4,611 people, the population of Raeford increased 36.18% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 3,386 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Raeford.

Communities Also Named Raeford ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two North Carolina communities named Raeford: This one is located in Hoke County and the other is located in Cumberland County.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Raeford.

Websites for Raeford ...

Official Website: www.raeford.org/

Communities near Raeford ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Raeford.

  • Pinehurst
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Hope Mills
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Southern Pines
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Laurinburg
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Spring Lake
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Aberdeen
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Red Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Maxton
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Saint Pauls
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Pinebluff
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Raeford. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Raeford.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Raeford. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Raeford.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Raeford. See our Newspapers Page for Raeford.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Raeford ...

Looking for more information about Raeford? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Raeford, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Raeford.

Adding Raeford to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Raeford in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Raeford was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Raeford post office opened in 1885.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Raeford.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Hoke, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Raeford.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Raeford - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 910 code has been Overlayed with the 472 area code. New phone numbers in the Raeford area will be assigned with one of these codes: 910 or 472. As a result, placing a call in the Raeford area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Raeford). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Raeford or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/