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History · Bayard

Bayard’s post office opened in 1885, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1900.

1885first post office
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bayard’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bayard began

When was Bayard founded?

1885

The Bayard post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 540 in 19002020 census: 201141 years
Founding year: the first Bayard post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bayard’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 18996 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1981. Watch Bayard change.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,074 in 1920; 201 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Bayard’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bayard’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bayard’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 viewBayard-Gormania,WV: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Bayard on the map, 1899 to 1981

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

Bayard on the 1899 USGS mapBayard on the 1900 USGS mapBayard on the 1949 USGS mapBayard on the 1950 USGS mapBayard on the 1974 USGS mapBayard on the 1981 USGS map1899Oakland 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 Bayard.

People over time

Bayard, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,074

Peaked at 1,074 in 1920; 201 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Bayard came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bayard.

Read it all →

Bayard was incorporated in 1893 and named in honor of Thomas F. Bayard, Jr., who later became a United States senator from Delaware (1923–1929). Bayard was founded on the West Virginia Central and Pittsburg Railway as a coal mining community. Coal mining has remained the town's chief industry.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bayard, 1885 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Bayard post office opens
  3. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archiveBayard-Gormania,WV
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,074
By decade

Bayard, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Bayard-Gormania,WVc. 1900Bayard-Gormania,WV
1910s–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
Today1 recent
WVMap-doton-Bayard2004WVMap-doton-Bayard
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.

Bayard-Gormania,WV
Retake this viewBayard-Gormania,WV, c. 1900

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Bayard’s history

What year was Bayard founded?

The Bayard post office opened in 1885, 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 (2), 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.