A fort was constructed at White Bluff in 1806, and an iron forge shortly afterward. The current town, which grew out of a Civil War-era Union Army encampment, was platted in 1867, and within a few years had grown to include several mercantile businesses and a planing mill.
At the 2000 census, there were 2,142 people, 881 households and 604 families residing in the town. The population density was 536.9 per square mile. There were 947 housing units at an average density of 237.4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 98.13% White, 0.65% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.09% from other races, and 0.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.65% of the population. There were 881 households of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.1% were married couplesliving together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.96. 24.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.0 males. The median household income was $34,107 and the median family income was $39,219. Males had a median income of $31,509 versus $25,260 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,229. About 6.1% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.9% of those under age 18 and 13.6% of those age 65 or over.
Education
There have been several public and private schools in the area. The first public school was destroyed by fire in 1879. White Bluff now has White Bluff Elementary School and Williams James School. The original William James was built in 1923 on land donated by Colonel William James, a Spanish–American War officer from whom it gets its team sports name, the Colonels, and who is entombed within the current building. It was a high school until 1972 when it became a junior high school. In the 1999–2000 school year, the school was changed to a middle school as part of a district-wide realignment, hence its current name, William James Middle School.
Anson A. Mount IV, star of film and television. Anson's father, Anson Mount II, also grew up in White Bluff, and became the sports editor for Playboy magazine.
