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History · Vandemere

Vandemere’s post office opened in 1871, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1890.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Vandemere began

When was Vandemere founded?

1871

The Vandemere post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 90 in 18902020 census: 246155 years
Founding year: the first Vandemere post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Vandemere’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 Vandemere are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 475 in 1950; 246 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vandemere’s collection

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

Vandemere, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 475

Peaked at 475 in 1950; 246 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Vandemere came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vandemere.

Read it all →

Vandemere is situated on a point where Vandemere Creek flows into the Bay River. It was incorporated in 1874 and was the county seat from 1872 (when Pamlico County was formed) to 1876.

Many of the descendants of the first colonists in North Carolina are still living in Vandemere today and many of the names live on, both in the names of the people and the places.

In 1699, a treaty was forged between the English Crown and the "Bay River Indians". Early settlers came from England, but there are also reports of French Huguenots and others including Dutch and Flemish.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vandemere, 1871 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Vandemere post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 475
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

Vandemere on the map, 1950 to 1993

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

Vandemere on the 1950 USGS mapVandemere on the 1974 USGS mapVandemere on the 1983 USGS mapVandemere on the 1993 USGS map1950Vandemere 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 Vandemere.

Famous people

Famous people close to Vandemere

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

See all →
Linda McMahonUnited States Secretary of Education since 2025 · b. 1948
Kevin WilliamsonAmerican screenwriter, director, and producer · b. 1965
M
Maddie HassonAmerican actress · b. 1995
Walt BellamyAmerican basketball player · b. 1939
D
Dennis MitchellAmerican track and field athlete, Olympic gold … · b. 1966
Little EvaAmerican singer · b. 1943
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

MesicIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Vandemere’s history

What year was Vandemere founded?

The Vandemere post office opened in 1871, 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, 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.