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History · Caryville

Caryville’s post office opened in 1883

Most of Caryville was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 1 old photo or paper.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Caryville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Caryville began

When was Caryville founded?

1883

The Caryville post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 301143 years
Founding year: the first Caryville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Caryville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Caryville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCaryville Bridge, State Route 10 (US 90…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Caryville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Caryville.

Read it all →

The area was first settled under the name "'Half Moon Bluff", in 1871. The community was renamed "Caryville" in 1884, after R.M. Cary. He was a stockholder and official of the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad (which later became a part of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad system). In 1903, it was also the first Washington County community that had electric lights. The Town of Caryville was first officially incorporated in 1913. Between the late 1930s to early 1940s, Caryville's municipal charter and home rule lapsed due to its lack of use. It wasn't officially reincorporated as a municipality until 1965.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Caryville, 1883 to 1926

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Caryville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1917Born hereRobert L. Carter is born here
  5. 1926Born hereBob Thorpe is born here
By decade

Caryville, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Caryville Bridge, State Route 10 (US 90) Spanning Choctawhatchee RiverDate?Caryville Bridge, State Route 10 (US 90) Spanning Cho…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Caryville Bridge, State Route 10 (US 90) Spanning Choctawhatchee River
Retake this viewCaryville Bridge, State Route 10 (US 90) Spanning Choctawhatchee River

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Caryville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Caryville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Robert L. CarterUnited States federal judge · b. 1917
B
Bob ThorpeAmerican baseball player · b. 1926
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

WestvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Caryville’s history

What year was Caryville founded?

The Caryville post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.