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History · Rhodhiss

Rhodhiss’ post office opened in 1901, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1895 on and the census since 1910.

1901first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Rhodhiss began

When was Rhodhiss founded?

1901

The Rhodhiss post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 370 in 19102020 census: 997125 years
Founding year: the first Rhodhiss post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Rhodhiss’ 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 Rhodhiss are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1930 and 2000, then more than doubled.On the map since 18954 editions of the USGS map, 1895 to 1993. Watch Rhodhiss change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rhodhiss’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rhodhiss’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

Rhodhiss, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020954 in 1930Low: 366

Lost half of its people between 1930 and 2000, then more than doubled.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

On the map

Rhodhiss on the map, 1895 to 1993

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

Rhodhiss on the 1895 USGS mapRhodhiss on the 1970 USGS mapRhodhiss on the 1986 USGS mapRhodhiss on the 1993 USGS map1895Hickory 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 Rhodhiss.

The story

How Rhodhiss came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rhodhiss.

Read it all →

The name "Rhodhiss" comes from John M. Rhodes and George B. Hiss. They joined to build a cotton mill on the upper Catawba River in Caldwell County. With a $500,000 investment, they helped construct the village of Rhodhiss, which included a horseshoe-shaped dam, electric generator, mill, general store, and worker houses. Rhodhiss Manufacturing Company opened in 1902, with Rhodhiss incorporating as a town in 1903. Within the next decade, the Town of Rhodhiss would expand into Burke County, with a new steel bridge spanning the Catawba River to connect the town together.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Rhodhiss, 1895 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Post officeThe Rhodhiss post office opens
  5. 1937Born hereJack Curtis is born here
  6. 21st century
  7. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 1,070
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.

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Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Granite FallsIts storyC−

Questions about Rhodhiss’ history

What year was Rhodhiss founded?

The Rhodhiss post office opened in 1901, 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 →
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 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.