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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Caldwell County >> RufusIndex...

Welcome to Rufus ...

Rufus is located in Caldwell County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Rufus, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1903.

Rufus is 1,220 feet [372 m] above sea level.<2>.

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

Area Code for Rufus: 828

Communities Also Named Rufus ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 8 communities that are also named Rufus - they are located in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin.

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

Communities near Rufus ...

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

  • Boone
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Lenoir
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Morganton
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Sawmills
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawmills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawmills
    • Sawmills is located in Caldwell County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,156 people
  • Granite Falls
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granite Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Falls
    • Granite Falls is located in Caldwell County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,657 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Granite Falls <3>
  • Valdese
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Gamewell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Hudson
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Cajah's Mountain
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cajah's Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cajah's Mountain
    • Cajah's Mountain is located in Caldwell County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,728 people
  • Drexel
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)

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 Rufus. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Rufus.

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Rufus ...

Looking for more information about Rufus? 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 Rufus, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Rufus.

Adding Rufus to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Rufus 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 Rufus was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Rufus post office opened in 1903.

We also found Rufus on a map titled Rand McNally Map of North Carolina (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Rufus.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Caldwell, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Rufus - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

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