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C−History
History · Bladenboro

Bladenboro’s post office opened in 1866

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Bladenboro was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1910.

1866first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: User:Dincher · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Bladenboro began

When was Bladenboro founded?

1866

The Bladenboro post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 276 in 19102020 census: 1,648160 years

How historic is Bladenboro?

C−

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Bladenboro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bladenboro’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bladenboro is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bladenboro’s overall grade.
Founding era1866, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.7% of homes (±5.1) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical NC town 12.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder

North Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical North Carolina town has 12.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bladenboro’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

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

Start Bladenboro’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bladenboro’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
The story

How Bladenboro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bladenboro.

Read it all →

Development around Bladenboro, a farming community also known in its earliest days for its turpentine and lumber, began to take off after a railroad was built through the area in 1859. In 1885, brothers R.L. and H.C. Bridger came to Bladenboro from Little River, South Carolina, to operate a turpentine business. They soon became involved in the timber business and operated a cotton gin. The brothers and their descendants would have a major effect on the shaping of the town and its economy for much of the next century. Major businesses, owned and operated by members of the Bridger family and which employed many area residents, have included Bridger Corporation (a farming supply company and general store no longer in operation), Bladenboro Cotton Mills (established in 1912 and later sold to become Highland Mills), and the Bank of Bladenboro (established in 1908 and now part of First Citi…

ChaptersEstablishment and early yearsBeast of BladenboroRecent years

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bladenboro, 1866 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Bladenboro post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1923Born herePaul V. Nolan is born here
  5. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bladenboro, decade by decade

Today8 recent
The Beast Festival of Bladenboro, 20192019The Beast Festival of Bladenboro, 2019Bladenboro2019BladenboroBladenboro 22019Bladenboro 2Traxx2007TraxxRR Crossing with watertower2007RR Crossing with watertowerEdwards Pharmacy2007Edwards PharmacyBladenboro water tower on Christmas2007Bladenboro water tower on ChristmasBlandenboro Township2002Blandenboro Township
On the map

Bladenboro on the map, 1957 to 1986

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

Bladenboro on the 1957 USGS mapBladenboro on the 1986 USGS map1957Bladenboro 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 Bladenboro.

People over time

Bladenboro, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,821

Between 276 and 1,821 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Bladenboro’s history

What year was Bladenboro founded?

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

How does Bladenboro rank for history?

Bladenboro is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Bladenboro?

6% of Bladenboro’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1972.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), Wikipedia, 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.