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Welcome to Old Fort ...

The town of Old Fort is located in McDowell County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Old Fort, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1826.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Old Fort has a population of 925 people<2> (see below for details).

Old Fort is 1,440 feet [439 m] above sea level.<3>.

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

Area Code for Old Fort: 828

The ZIP code for Old Fort: 28762<4>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Old Fort had an population of 925 people. This is an increase of 1.87% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 3.95% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Old Fort had a population of 908 people. This makes Old Fort the county's 2nd most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 908 people, the population of Old Fort decreased 5.71% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 963 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Old Fort.

Communities Also Named Old Fort ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 7 communities that are also named Old Fort - they are located in British Columbia, Idaho, Ohio, Ontario (2), Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Old Fort.

Communities near Old Fort ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Old Fort.

  • Black Mountain
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Mountain
    • Black Mountain is located in Buncombe County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,256 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Black Mountain <6>
  • Marion
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marion have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
    • Marion is located in McDowell County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,937 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marion <6>
  • Lake Lure
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Lure have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Lure
    • Lake Lure is located in Rutherford County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,153 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Lure <6>
  • Montreat
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montreat have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montreat
    • Montreat is located in Buncombe County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 939 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montreat <6>
  • Chimney Rock
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Village of Chimney Rock Village
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Village of Chimney Rock Village have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village of Chimney Rock Village
    • Village of Chimney Rock Village is located in Rutherford County
    • Estimated population in 2015: 108 people
  • Greenlee
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Ridgecrest
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Providence
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Providence have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
    • Providence is located in McDowell County
  • Otter Creek ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Otter Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otter Creek
    • Otter Creek is located in Rutherford County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Otter Creek
    • From Old Fort to Otter 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 Old Fort. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Old Fort.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Old Fort. 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 Old Fort.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Old Fort. Our list includes 4 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Old Fort.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Old Fort ...

Looking for more information about Old Fort? 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.

In addition to the Tourism page for Old Fort, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Old Fort.

Adding Old Fort to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Old Fort 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 Old Fort was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

X2X - From that list, the Old Fort post office opened in 1826.

We also found Old Fort in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Old Fort.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Old Fort. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including McDowell, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Old Fort.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Old Fort - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<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 town (such as Old Fort). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Old Fort or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<5>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.
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

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




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 14 Jul 2025