Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Cleveland

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Cleveland

Cleveland’s post office opened in 1887, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1900.

1887first post office
4on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cleveland began

When was Cleveland founded?

1887

The Cleveland post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Third Creek (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 198 in 19002020 census: 846139 years
Founding year: the first Cleveland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Cleveland’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 Cleveland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18933 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1988. Watch Cleveland change.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cleveland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cleveland’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
On the map

Cleveland on the map, 1893 to 1988

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

Cleveland on the 1893 USGS mapCleveland on the 1970 USGS mapCleveland on the 1988 USGS map1893Statesville sheet · 1:125,000

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

On the National Register

4 historic places in Cleveland

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Third Creek Presbyterian Church and Cemetery
Christ Episcopal Church, built 1826Knox-Johnstone HouseCleveland School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival2
Gothic Revival1
Craftsman1
Federal1
Late Victorian1
Italianate1
Christ Episcopal ChurchGothic Revival · Built 1826
All 4 listings
Third Creek Presbyterian Church and CemeteryBuilding · listed 1983Knox-Johnstone HouseBuilding · listed 1993Cleveland SchoolBuilding · listed 2019

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Cleveland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cleveland.

Read it all →

The town dates from 1831 but was not incorporated until 1833. The first post office in Cleveland—which was named Cowansville at that time—was established on 18 March 1831 with John Cowan the first postmaster. On 7 January 1856, prior to the US Civil War and the completion of the Western Carolina Railroad, the town was renamed to Rowan Mills. Rowan Mills was the name the nearby plantation owned by Osborn Giles Foard. Foard was also the first postmaster of the Rowan Mills Post Office. The Rowan Mills Post Office served the area until 25 February 1884 when it was renamed to Third Creek. In the 1880 U.S. Census, there were 17 families and 89 persons living in the Third Creek community. It was not until 2 March 1887 that the townspeople renamed the town after Grover Cleveland, who is supposed to have visited the town during his presidential campaign. William L. Allison was the first postm…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cleveland, 1826 to 1994

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1826BuiltChrist Episcopal Church is built
  3. 1835BuiltThird Creek Presbyterian Church and Cemetery is built
  4. 1884Post officeThe Third Creek post office opens
  5. 1887Post officeThe Third Creek post office closes
  6. 1887Post officeThe Cleveland post office opens
  7. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1921Born hereJames Allen Graham is born here
  10. 1994Born hereKeshun Sherrill is born here
By decade

Cleveland, decade by decade

Today1 recent
NCMap-doton-Cleveland2004NCMap-doton-Cleveland
People over time

Cleveland, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 871

Between 198 and 871 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Cleveland

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
James Allen GrahamAmerican politician · b. 1921
K
Keshun SherrillAmerican basketball player · b. 1994
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Cleveland’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Third Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Third Creek
1884–1887
Cleveland
1887–today
18801950today

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

Questions about Cleveland’s history

What year was Cleveland founded?

The Cleveland post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Cleveland?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Third Creek Presbyterian Church and Cemetery (listed 1983, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.

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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.