When Boardman was first established, it was known as Hub, named after H. U. Butters, the founder of the Butters Lumber Company. The company operated the largest timber operation in North Carolina, featuring a lumber mill and large colonial-era housing.
In 1899, Hub became one of the stops of the Southeastern Railroad, which later became a section of the Atlantic Coast Line's Myrtle Beach Branch. Later, the community was renamed to Boardman after the Baptist missionary George Dana Boardman. When the Butters Lumber Company relocated in 1926, Boardman's booming industrial era came to an end. Furthermore, Boardman's railroad line was abandoned in the 1970s, leaving the town as a quiet settlement in Columbus County.
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, 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.
