The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusBolivar ( BOL-i-vər) is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 2,051 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Simón Bolívar. Bolivar is on the south border of the county and is east of Olean. There is also a village of Bolivar in the town. As "the heart of the Allegany Oil Field" the Bolivar-Richburg area rose to significance during the oil boom era of the late 1800s. During the brief initial oil boom of the 1880s it was purportedly the wealthiest locale, per capita, in the United States. By the early 1900s the initial boom, with its economic and population impacts, had significantly faded, but secondary oil recovery techniques applied to the oil fields (s…
Bolivar was established in 1825. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,047 to 1,010 (-4%). Half of its homes were built before 1938.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bolivar yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.
Start Bolivar’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bolivar’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Bolivar
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Bolivar, decade by decade
2000
Then & now
When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.
Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (4). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.