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History · East Bend

East Bend’s post office opened in 1849, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Davis Brothers Store and the Morse and Wade Building. Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 1900.

1849first post office

2on the National Register

22%homes built before 1940

2famous people

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Quick answers

How East Bend began, and where its name came from

When was East Bend founded?

1849

The East Bend post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1887.

First census: 444 in 19002020 census: 634177 years

How did East Bend get its name?

East Bend was named for merchant Martin Luther Banner.

Founding year: the first East Bend post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1887. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about East Bend’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 East Bend are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of East Bend.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start East Bend’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how East Bend’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

East Bend, 1849 to 1966

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

19th century
1849Post officeThe East Bend post office opens
1890BuiltMorse and Wade Building is built
1891Born hereErnie Shore is born here
20th century
1924Born hereVan Fletcher is born here
1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

The story

How East Bend came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of East Bend.

Read it all →

One of the most significant Native American excavation sites in North Carolina is located near the Yadkin River west of the town of Donnaha. Donnaha was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 1978. Experts from Wake Forest University believe this was the site of a village of at least 100 Sioux Indians dating to the late Woodland Period.

Earl Norman, an East Bend artifact collector, donated 5,000 pieces of his collection of more than 10,000 relics to the North Carolina Department of Archives and History in 1960.

East Bend was first known as Banner's Store. It was named for merchant Martin Luther Banner. Early settler Martin Luther Banner later moved west and founded Banner Elk, North Carolina.

ChaptersNative American settlement Establishment of town

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

East Bend on the map, 1966 to 1984

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

1966East Bend sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

2 historic places in East Bend

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

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1994

Davis Brothers Store

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Commercial1

Italianate1

Davis Brothers StoreCommercial

All 2 listings

Morse and Wade BuildingBuilding · listed 2005

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

People over time

East Bend, census by census

Between 444 and 659 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in East Bend

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

See all →

Ernie ShoreAmerican baseball player · b. 1891

Van FletcherAmerican baseball player · b. 1924

Questions about East Bend’s history

What year was East Bend founded?

The East Bend post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1887.

What is on the National Register in East Bend?

Two places: the Davis Brothers Store (listed 1994) and the Morse and Wade Building (2005).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.

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