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–Not graded
History · Bivalve

Bivalve’s post office opened in 1887, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1903 on.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Bivalve began

When was Bivalve founded?

1887

The Bivalve post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 185139 years
Founding year: the first Bivalve post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bivalve’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 Bivalve are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19033 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1983. Watch Bivalve change.Old housesHalf of Bivalve’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bivalve’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Bivalve on the map, 1903 to 1983

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

Bivalve on the 1903 USGS mapBivalve on the 1942 USGS mapBivalve on the 1983 USGS map1903Nanticoke sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story so far

Bivalve, in brief

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

Bivalve is an unincorporated community and census-designated place along the eastern shore of the lower Nanticoke River, near its mouth on the Chesapeake Bay, in Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. Its population was 201 as of the 2010 census. Bivalve takes its name from the oyster, upon which the town's economy once depended. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Yellow Brick House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 201 to 185 (-8%).

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Stories next door

History across the town line

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

JestervilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTyaskin1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bivalve’s history

What year was Bivalve founded?

The Bivalve post office opened in 1887, 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 →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.