Bolivar was both a flag station on the L & N Railroad (now CSX), completed in 1906, and an agricultural community. According to a resident of the area, the name Bolivar predated the railroad and was the name of a community already established in the area where Sugar Hill Creek and Pine Log Creek merge, forming Salacoa Creek. The community, which included a grist mill, was thought to be established by South American immigrants who knew of or were related to General Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) who overthrew Spanish rule in South America. No longer in existence, it was located near the intersection of U. S. Highway 411 and Johnson Mountain Road.

Source: Georgia Place-Names by Kenneth Krakow; Recollections of Bartow County resident, David Vaughan Jr.