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History · Bartow

Bartow’s post office opened in 1866, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 121 buildings. Below: maps from 1973 on and the census since 1880.

1866first post office
1on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bartow began

When was Bartow founded?

1866

The Bartow post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Speir's Turnout (1848), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 248 in 18802020 census: 186160 years
Founding year: the first Bartow post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bartow’s past

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

A historic districtThe Bartow Historic District takes in 121 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bartow are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 582 in 1920; 186 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Bartow’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 121 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
121
each building in a district counts
first listed
2009
Bartow Historic District
Bartow Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Queen Anne1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Colonial Revival1
Classical Revival1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Bartow Historic DistrictLate Victorian

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Help out

Start Bartow’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bartow’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
People over time

Bartow, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 582

Peaked at 582 in 1920; 186 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Bartow, in brief

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

Bartow is a town in Jefferson County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 186. Initially the town was known as "Spier's Turnout", but was changed to honor the first Confederate officer to die in battle, Colonel Francis S. Bartow of Savannah, Georgia, who was killed at the Battle of Manassas, Virginia on July 21, 1861.

Its first post office opened in 1866. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 286 to 186 (-35%).

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

Timeline

Bartow, 1848 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848Post officeThe Speir's Turnout post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Speir's Turnout post office closes
  4. 1866Post officeThe Bartow post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1917Born hereWilliam Oscar Smith is born here
  7. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 582
  8. 1968Born hereRobby Wells is born here
  9. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bartow, decade by decade

Today15 recent
Just for fun, owner Billy Perry decorated his cabins2017Just for fun, owner Billy Perry decorated his cabinsJust for fun, owner Billy Perry decorated his cabins2017Just for fun, owner Billy Perry decorated his cabinsJust for fun, owner Billy Perry decorated his cabins2017Just for fun, owner Billy Perry decorated his cabinsJust for fun, owner Billy Perry decorated his cabins2017Just for fun, owner Billy Perry decorated his cabinsCarl Albritton moved to tiny Bartow, an old cotton-mill town in the U.S. state of Georgia, from a bigger city, specific…2017Carl Albritton moved to tiny Bartow, an old cotton-mi…An old drug-store window, advertising the laxitive Ex-Lax, in the old cotton-mill town of Bartow in eastern Georgia2017An old drug-store window, advertising the laxitive Ex…Freight trains run right through little Bartow, an old cotton-mill town in the U.S. state of Georgia2017Freight trains run right through little Bartow, an ol…Freight trains run right through little Bartow, an old cotton-mill town in the U.S. state of Georgia2017Freight trains run right through little Bartow, an ol…One of several processing plants2017One of several processing plantsA bird-house, or free take-one, bring-one lending library location2017A bird-house, or free take-one, bring-one lending lib…Three red barns2017Three red barnsWhat's left of an old Pure gasoline station2017What's left of an old Pure gasoline stationThe main street along the railroad line2017The main street along the railroad lineThe main street along the railroad line2017The main street along the railroad lineWhimsical directional sign2017Whimsical directional sign
On the map

Bartow on the map, 1973 to 1981

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

Bartow on the 1973 USGS mapBartow on the 1981 USGS map1973Louisville South 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 Bartow.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Bartow

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

See all →
Robby WellsFootball coach and perennial candidate · b. 1968
W
William Oscar SmithJazz musician · b. 1917
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Bartow’s post office has been open since 1866. Another post office, Speir's Turnout, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Speir's Turnout
1848–1866
Bartow
1866–today
18401930today
1cemetery inside Bartow
Bartow Church

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

Questions about Bartow’s history

What year was Bartow founded?

The Bartow post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Bartow?

One place: the Bartow Historic District (listed 2009).

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 (15), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.