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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Halifax County >> Roanoke RapidsIndex...

Welcome to Roanoke Rapids ...

The city of Roanoke Rapids is located in Halifax County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Roanoke Rapids, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1895.

A typical abbreviation for Roanoke Rapids: Roanoke Rpds.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Roanoke Rapids has a population of 14,351 people<2> (see below for details).

Roanoke Rapids is 140 feet [43 m] above sea level.<3>.

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

Area Code for Roanoke Rapids: 252

The ZIP code for Roanoke Rapids: 27870<4>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Roanoke Rapids had an population of 14,351 people. This is a decrease of 8.91% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 15.37% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Roanoke Rapids had a population of 15,754 people (which is 28.92% of the total population of Halifax County). This makes Roanoke Rapids the county's most populous community.

The population of Roanoke Rapids represents 0.17% of the total population of North Carolina (which has 9,535,483 people), making it the state's 57th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 15,754 people, the population of Roanoke Rapids decreased 7.09% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 16,957 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Roanoke Rapids.

Websites for Roanoke Rapids ...

Official Website: www.roanokerapidsnc.com/

Communities near Roanoke Rapids ...

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

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 Roanoke Rapids. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Roanoke Rapids.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Roanoke Rapids. 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 Roanoke Rapids.

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Roanoke Rapids ...

Looking for more information about Roanoke Rapids? 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 Roanoke Rapids, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Roanoke Rapids.

Adding Roanoke Rapids to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Roanoke Rapids 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 for Roanoke Rapids was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

From that list, the Roanoke Rapids post office opened in 1895.

We also found Roanoke Rapids on a map titled Rand McNally Map of North Carolina (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Roanoke Rapids.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Halifax, 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 Roanoke Rapids.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Roanoke Rapids - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>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 Roanoke Rapids). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Roanoke Rapids or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<7>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

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