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History · Bolivar

Bolivar’s post office opened in 1830

Below: maps from 1939 on.

1830first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Bolivar began

When was Bolivar founded?

1830

The Bolivar post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1835.

2020 census: 39196 years
Founding year: the first Bolivar post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1835.The full story ↓

What stands out about Bolivar’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 Bolivar are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1830: 196 years of Bolivar.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bolivar’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bolivar’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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Timeline

Bolivar, 1830 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830Post officeThe Bolivar post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908Post officeThe Bolivar post office closes
  5. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Bolivar came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bolivar.

Read it all →

Founded on December 12, 1835, a U.S. post office operated under the name Bolivar until 1908.

When Bolivar County was established on December 12, 1835, the first county seat was located at Bolivar. William Vick sold 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land to the county for $800, and it was then named Bolivar. The land was surveyed by B.M. Hines, who laid out the courthouse square, with town lots around it which were advertised for sale. An order was passed by the Board of Police (later called "supervisors") in 1840 to build a one-room courthouse at a cost of $595.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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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On the map

Bolivar on the map, 1939 to 1972

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

Bolivar on the 1939 USGS mapBolivar on the 1972 USGS map1939Lamont 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 Bolivar.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bolivar

Nobody well known was born in Bolivar itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jim HensonAmerican puppeteer · b. 1936
Mary WilsonAmerican singer · b. 1944
Archie MooreAmerican boxer · b. 1913
David EdwardsAmerican blues guitarist and singer · b. 1915
Thelma HoustonAmerican singer · b. 1946
Gerald WilsonAmerican trumpetist · b. 1918
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Bolivar had its own post office from 1830 to 1908.

Bolivar
1830–1908
18301930today

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

Questions about Bolivar’s history

What year was Bolivar founded?

The Bolivar post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1835.

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 Wikipedia, 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.