Graham was laid out in 1849 as the seat of the brand-new Alamance County and incorporated two years later. It still works the way a county seat works: the courthouse in the middle, the lawyers and the county offices around it, and the town spreading out from there.
The courthouse on the square was built in 1923 and opened to the public in November 1924 — Classical Revival, designed by Harry Barton, and on the National Register since 1979. Two historic districts surround it: the Graham Historic District, listed in 1983 with seventy-two contributing buildings, and the North Main Street district, listed in 1999.
Graham is growing quickly. The 2020 census counted 17,157 people; the Census Bureau estimated 19,311 by 2024, and the state's own certified estimate is higher still because it counts recent annexations. Most of that is new building on the edges of town rather than change in the old streets.
For a buyer, the appeal is usually the housing near the square — older houses, some of them properly historic — and the roads. NC 54 out of Graham is the direct route to Carrboro and Chapel Hill, and I-40/I-85 is right there, so Durham is under forty minutes. If you want an older house with a real downtown you can walk to, this is the strongest candidate in the county.
Photo: Warren LeMay, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Graham, in the questions people ask us.
What is the housing around the square like?
Older and varied: Victorian and early-twentieth-century houses on the streets off the square, bungalows a little further out, and newer subdivisions on the edges of town. Two National Register historic districts cover much of the centre, which is worth knowing before you plan exterior work.
Does a historic district limit what I can do to the house?
A National Register listing by itself is mostly honorary — it does not stop you painting or replacing windows. Local historic district rules are the ones with teeth, and they vary. Ask before you buy if a renovation is the point, and we will find out what applies to that specific address.
How long is the drive to Chapel Hill?
About half an hour on NC 54 or the interstate. Graham is the closest of the county's bigger towns to the Triangle side, which is a large part of why it is growing.
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