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Welcome to Bear Creek ...

Bear Creek is located in Chatham County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Bear Creek, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1875.

A typical abbreviation for Bear Creek: Bear Crk. (or less commonly used: Bear Ck. or Bear Cr.)

Bear Creek is 460 feet [140 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Bear Creek lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Bear Creek: 919 & 984<3>

The ZIP code for Bear Creek: 27207<4>

Communities Also Named Bear Creek ...

While we believe that this Bear Creek is located in Chatham County, we know of another 2 North Carolina communities named Bear Creek. Those communities are located in the following counties: Graham and Onslow County.

Beyond North Carolina, there are 39 communities that are also named Bear Creek - they are located in Alabama (3), Alaska, Arkansas, British Columbia (2), California (2), Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana (2), Michigan (2), Minnesota, Mississippi (2), Montana, New York, Ohio (2), Ontario, Oregon, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Tennessee (2), Texas (5), West Virginia, Wisconsin and Yukon.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bear Creek.

Communities near Bear Creek ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Bear Creek.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Bear Creek. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Bear Creek.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Bear Creek. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bear Creek.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Bear Creek. See our Newspapers Page for Bear Creek.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Bear Creek ...

Looking for more information about Bear Creek? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Bear Creek, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Bear Creek.

Adding Bear Creek to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Bear Creek in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Bear Creek was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Bear Creek post office opened in 1875.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Bear Creek.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Chatham, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Bear Creek - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 919 code has been Overlayed with the 984 area code. New phone numbers in the Bear Creek area will be assigned with one of these codes: 919 or 984. As a result, placing a call in the Bear Creek area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a community (such as Bear Creek). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Bear Creek or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<7>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/