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History · Bellmore

Bellmore’s post office opened in 1883, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 2000.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bellmore’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bellmore began

When was Bellmore founded?

1883

The Bellmore post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 16,441 in 20002020 census: 16,297143 years
Founding year: the first Bellmore post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bellmore’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18977 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1994. Watch Bellmore change.Old housesHalf of Bellmore’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bellmore’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bellmore’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBellmore cinema: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Bellmore on the map, 1897 to 1994

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

Bellmore on the 1897 USGS mapBellmore on the 1903 USGS mapBellmore on the 1947 USGS mapBellmore on the 1955 USGS mapBellmore on the 1969 USGS mapBellmore on the 1979 USGS mapBellmore on the 1994 USGS map1897Hempstead 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 Bellmore.

The story

How Bellmore came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bellmore.

Read it all →

In 1643, Bellmore was a farming and fishing town known then as "Little Neck and "New Bridge". Bellmore was settled primarily by Englishmen who crossed Long Island Sound from Connecticut in the middle of the seventeenth century. Bradley Vogel purchased a 214-acre (0.9 km2) farm in what is now North Bellmore in 1655. Further south, near the bay, Andres Smith deeded 100 acres (0.4 km2) to his son, Jeremiah in 1676. Lee Mattes married Sarah Southard and moved into their new home on Merrick Road in about 1689. Two communities grew out of these beginnings. Smithville (later Smithville South) was named for the many Smith families who lived in the area, and New Bridge, named for the bridge that joined the peninsulas south of Merrick Road.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Bellmore, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Bellmore cinema1940Bellmore cinema
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
LongIslandFire52005LongIslandFire5LongIslandFire42005LongIslandFire4LongIslandFire32005LongIslandFire3LongIslandFire22005LongIslandFire2Aftermath2005Aftermath
Every building

Bellmore, building by building, 1927

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Bellmore fire insurance map, 1927, sheet 11927Sheet 1 of 7
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bellmore cinema
Retake this viewBellmore cinema, 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bellmore’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Bellmore, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,00020002020Peak: 16,441

Between 16,218 and 16,441 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Merrick1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWantagh3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth BellmoreIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bellmore’s history

What year was Bellmore founded?

The Bellmore post office opened in 1883, 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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.