We have no specific reference to the founding of Hobbiton, but it is described as being one of the older settlements of the Shire. In principle, it might date back to the first years after the founding of the Shire itself.

The map shown here follows the large-scale Shire map from The Lord of the Rings, but later comments from Tolkien suggest that that map should perhaps not be taken as completely reliable. According to late notes reproduced in The History of the Hobbit, in the time before the War of the Ring there were no buildings at all southward of the road junction at Hobbiton's southern end. During the time Sharkey held control over the Shire, a block of new buildings was apparently constructed on the southern side of the road, but it seems that construction there was never as extensive as the Lord of the Rings Shire map (and by extension the map shown here) might imply.