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C−History
History · Bear Creek

Bear Creek’s post office opened in 1888

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Bear Creek was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1936 on and the census since 1910.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bear Creek began

When was Bear Creek founded?

1888

The Bear Creek post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Allen's Factory (1857), Goddard (1888) and Bull (1908), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 214 in 19102020 census: 1,047138 years

How historic is Bear Creek?

C−

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Bear Creek post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Bear Creek’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bear Creek is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bear Creek’s overall grade.
Founding era1888, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.8% of homes (±3.2) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical AL town 2.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 18%
NewerOlder

Alabama towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Alabama town has 2.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bear Creek’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (26% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Bear Creek’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bear Creek are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bear Creek, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bear Creek’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bear Creek’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Bear Creek’s post office has been open since 1888. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Allen's Factory
1857–1887
Bear Creek
1888–today
Goddard
1888–1912
Bull
1908–1912
Lumbull
1912–1919
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Allens FactoryGoddardLumbull
Gone or out of use
McCollough SchoolschoolOld Zion ChurchchurchResolute Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bear Creek
Bear CreekBear Creek Number 1 Baptist ChurchFactoryJohn BullMountain Home

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Bear Creek, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bear Creek yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Bear Creek is a town in Marion County, Alabama, United States. It incorporated in 1907, although the 1910 U.S. Census records indicated 1909. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,047.

Its first post office opened in 1888. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,070 to 1,047 (-2%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Bear Creek, 1857 to 1940

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Allen's Factory post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Allen's Factory post office closes
  4. 1888Post officeThe Bear Creek post office opens
  5. 1888Post officeThe Goddard post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1912Post officeThe Goddard post office closes
  8. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1940Born hereFrank Fleming is born here
By decade

Bear Creek, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Bear Creek, AL, USA2014Bear Creek, AL, USABear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (7)2014Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (7)Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (6)2014Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (6)Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (5)2014Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (5)Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (4)2014Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (4)Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (3)2014Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (3)Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (2)2014Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (2)Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (1)2014Bear Creek, AL, USA - panoramio (1)
On the map

Bear Creek on the map, 1936 to 1946

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bear Creek. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bear Creek on the 1936 USGS mapBear Creek on the 1946 USGS map1936Phil Campbell sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bear Creek.

People over time

Bear Creek, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,070

Between 208 and 1,070 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bear Creek’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Bear Creek’s history

What year was Bear Creek founded?

The Bear Creek post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Bear Creek rank for history?

Bear Creek is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Bear Creek?

3% of Bear Creek’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.