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History · Fair Bluff

Fair Bluff’s post office opened in 1815, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Fair Bluff was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Powell House. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1880.

1815first post office
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Jason W. Smith · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Fair Bluff began

When was Fair Bluff founded?

1815

The Fair Bluff post office opened in 1815, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 218 in 18802020 census: 709211 years
Founding year: the first Fair Bluff post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fair Bluff’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 Fair Bluff are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,181 in 2000; 709 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1815: 211 years of Fair Bluff.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fair Bluff’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fair Bluff’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
People over time

Fair Bluff, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,181

Peaked at 1,181 in 2000; 709 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Fair Bluff, 1815 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1815Post officeThe Fair Bluff post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 1,181
The story

How Fair Bluff came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fair Bluff.

Read it all →

Fair Bluff was the name originally given to a bluff overlooking the Lumber River. In 1807, plans were made to build a town upon the lands of John Wooton at the bluff to be known as Wootonton. The town was established but the name was never changed. The community was reincorporated in 1873.

The Powell House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Fair Bluff, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Fair Bluff, North Carolina2020Fair Bluff, North CarolinaFair Bluff, North Carolina 022020Fair Bluff, North Carolina 02Main Street in2015Main Street inDowntown2012Downtown
On the map

Fair Bluff on the map, 1943 to 1982

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

Fair Bluff on the 1943 USGS mapFair Bluff on the 1962 USGS mapFair Bluff on the 1976 USGS mapFair Bluff on the 1982 USGS map1943Pages Mill 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 Fair Bluff.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Fair Bluff

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Powell House
Powell House
Buildings
All 1 listings
Powell HouseBuilding · listed 1978

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Fair Bluff

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

See all →
Afeni ShakurAmerican political activist · b. 1947
Quanera HayesAmerican sprinter · b. 1992
Scott DawsonAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1984
Edolphus TownsAmerican politician · b. 1934
A
Archie Randolph AmmonsAmerican poet · b. 1926
L
Lee McNeillAmerican track and field athlete · b. 1964

Questions about Fair Bluff’s history

What year was Fair Bluff founded?

The Fair Bluff post office opened in 1815, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Fair Bluff?

One place: the Powell House (listed 1978).

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