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History · Bethlehem

Bethlehem’s post office opened in 1850

Most of Bethlehem was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: maps from 1944 on.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Bethlehem began

When was Bethlehem founded?

1850

The Bethlehem post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 319176 years
Founding year: the first Bethlehem post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bethlehem’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 Bethlehem are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bethlehem’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bethlehem’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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The story so far

Bethlehem, in brief

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

Bethlehem is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Marshall County, Mississippi, United States. The 2020 Census listed a population of 319.

Its first post office opened in 1850.

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

Timeline

Bethlehem, 1850 to 1944

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Bethlehem post office opens
  3. 1881Born hereVictor V. Boatner is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907Post officeThe Bethlehem post office closes
  6. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

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On the map

Bethlehem on the map, 1944 to 2000

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

Bethlehem on the 1944 USGS mapBethlehem on the 1982 USGS mapBethlehem on the 2000 USGS map1944Potts Camp 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 Bethlehem.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Bethlehem had its own post office from 1850 to 1907.

Bethlehem
1850–1907
18501940today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bethlehem
BethlehemBethlehem

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

Questions about Bethlehem’s history

What year was Bethlehem founded?

The Bethlehem post office opened in 1850, 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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.