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Welcome to Bear Branch ...

So far, we found very little information about Bear Branch. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Bear Branch to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Bear Branch, please Contact Us.

Bear Branch would have been located within present day DeKalb County<2>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Bear Branch, you might consider that their post office opened in 1874.

A typical abbreviation for Bear Branch: Bear Br. (or less commonly used: Bear Brnch.)

While the community is gone, the present day location for Bear Branch is 960 feet [293 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: The area where Bear Branch was located is in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you travel east from Bear Branch (for example, toward Spring City), you will leave Central Time and cross into the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT).

The Area Codes where Bear Branch was located: 615 & 629<4>

Communities Also Named Bear Branch ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 3 communities that are also named Bear Branch - they are located in Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri.

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

Communities near Bear Branch ...

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

  • Smyrna
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Smyrna is located in Warren County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyrna
    • Estimated population in 2014: 45,274 people
  • McMinnville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Temperance Hall
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Temperance Hall is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temperance Hall
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 5,791 people
  • Sparta
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Smithville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Woodbury
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Morrison
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Doyle
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Doyle is located in White County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doyle
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 587 people
  • Dowelltown
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Liberty
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty is located in DeKalb County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 330 people

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

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

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

Adding Bear Branch to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Bear Branch in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Bear Branch was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Bear Branch post office opened in 1874. The Bear Branch post office closed in 1904.

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

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Bear Branch, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>If you're interested in how the shape of Tennessee's counties, including DeKalb, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Bear Branch - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>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 615 code has been Overlayed with the 629 area code. New phone numbers in the Bear Branch area will be assigned with one of these codes: 615 or 629. As a result, placing a call in the Bear Branch area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

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