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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Selma ...

The town of Selma is located in Johnston County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Selma, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1867.

When the people of Selma refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Selmian<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Selma has a population of 7,119 people<3> (see below for details).

Selma is 140 feet [43 m] above sea level.<4>.

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

Area Codes for Selma: 919 & 984<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Selma had an population of 7,119 people. This is an increase of 17.22% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 20.38% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Selma had a population of 6,073 people. This makes Selma the county's 3rd most populous community.

The population of Selma represents 0.06% of the population of North Carolina (which has 9,535,483 people), making it the state's 117th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 6,073 people, the population of Selma increased 2.69% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 5,914 people).

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

Communities Also Named Selma ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 30 communities that are also named Selma - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois (2), Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (3), Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan (2), Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Montana, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas (2), Utah and Virginia (2).

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

Websites for Selma ...

Official Website: www.selma-nc.com/

Communities near Selma ...

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

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

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

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Selma. Our list includes 4 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Selma.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Selma ...

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

Adding Selma to Our Gazetteer ...

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

From that list, the Selma post office opened in 1867.

We also found Selma in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Selma.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Johnston, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Selma refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a town's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Selma may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Selma.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Selma - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>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 919 code has been Overlayed with the 984 area code. New phone numbers in the Selma area will be assigned with one of these codes: 919 or 984. As a result, placing a call in the Selma area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>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.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

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