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History · White Lake

White Lake’s post office opened in 1912

Most of White Lake was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1960.

1912first post office
0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Cubby61 · Public domain
Quick answers

How White Lake began

When was White Lake founded?

1912

The White Lake post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 130 in 19602020 census: 843114 years
Founding year: the first White Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about White Lake’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 White Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1980 and 1990, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start White Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how White Lake’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

White Lake, census by census

02004006008001,0001960198020002020968 in 1980Low: 390

Lost half of its people between 1980 and 1990, then more than doubled.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

The story so far

White Lake, in brief

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

White Lake is a shallow, natural clear water lake and a popular resort town near Elizabethtown in Bladen County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 843. Each summer around 200,000 visitors travel to White Lake, as the lake's shore is deemed one of the safest beaches in the country since it has no currents or tides. It has white sand and pristine clear water originated from a combination of rainfall and subterranean springs.

Its first post office opened in 1912. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 802 to 843 (+5%).

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

Timeline

White Lake, 1912 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1912Post officeThe White Lake post office opens
  3. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 968
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

White Lake on the map, 1954 to 1986

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

White Lake on the 1954 USGS mapWhite Lake on the 1986 USGS map1954White Lake 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 White Lake.

Famous people

Famous people close to White Lake

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

See all →
Curtis BrownAmerican Air Force pilot and astronaut · b. 1956
Scott DawsonAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1984
Bill JohnsonAmerican politician and academic administrator · b. 1954
Willie WeeksAmerican bassist · b. 1947
A
Archie Randolph AmmonsAmerican poet · b. 1926
Chasity MelvinAmerican basketball player · b. 1976
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

White Lake’s post office has been open since 1912.

Gone or out of use
White Lake Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside White Lake
CarrollMelvin

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about White Lake’s history

What year was White Lake founded?

The White Lake post office opened in 1912, 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 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.