Bloomingdale’s post office opened in 1879, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #120 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it
Most of Bloomingdale was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Its Register listing is the Rock Ledge. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 2000.
Founding year: the first Bloomingdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Bloomingdale’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bloomingdale is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #120 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bloomingdale’s overall grade.
Tennessee towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Tennessee town has 6.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bloomingdale’s 5.4 sits near the middle of its state (51% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Bloomingdale’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Bloomingdale had its own post office from 1879 to 1920.
Bloomingdale
1879–1920
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cedar GroveDarlington HeightsEast KingsportHarmony HillsKingsley HillsLarkspurNorthcottThomas Addition
Gone or out of use
Kingsley Churchchurch
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bloomingdale
DichnerGardnerHowardKennedySmithStuffle
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Bloomingdale, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bloomingdale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bloomingdale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sullivan County, Tennessee. The population was 8,918 at the 2020 census down from 9,888 at the 2010 census, due to annexation by the City of Kingsport. It is part of the Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region.
Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 9,888 to 8,918 (-10%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Bloomingdale, 1879 to 1935
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Bloomingdale post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bloomingdale rank for history?
Bloomingdale is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #120 of 177 in Tennessee. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Bloomingdale?
One place: the Rock Ledge (listed 1978).
How old are the homes in Bloomingdale?
4% of Bloomingdale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1974.
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
