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History · Kelford

Kelford’s post office opened in 1892, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1973 on and the census since 1900.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Kelford began

When was Kelford founded?

1892

The Kelford post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 167 in 19002020 census: 203134 years
Founding year: the first Kelford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Kelford’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 Kelford are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 458 in 1930; 203 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kelford’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kelford’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

Kelford, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 458

Peaked at 458 in 1930; 203 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story so far

Kelford, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kelford yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Kelford is a town in Bertie County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Kelford had a population of 203.

Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 251 to 203 (-19%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Kelford, 1892 to 1989

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Kelford post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 458
  5. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1989Born hereKent Bazemore is born here
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

Kelford on the map, 1973 to 1997

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

Kelford on the 1973 USGS mapKelford on the 1985 USGS mapKelford on the 1997 USGS map1973Kelford 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 Kelford.

Questions about Kelford’s history

What year was Kelford founded?

The Kelford post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.