The story
Read it all →How Coal Hill came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Coal Hill.
The community was named for the presence of a coal mine near the town site.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Coal Hill
Coal Hill’s post office opened in 1876, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listings are the Hill, Taylor, Hotel and the College Street Bridge. Below: maps from 1887 on and the census since 1880.
1876first post office
2on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Quick answers
How Coal Hill began
When was Coal Hill founded?
1876
The Coal Hill post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 200 in 18802020 census: 820150 years
Founding year: the first Coal Hill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Coal Hill’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Coal Hill’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Coal Hill’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Coal Hill on the map, 1887 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coal Hill. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1887Magazine Mountain #1 sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Coal Hill.
People over time
Coal Hill, census by census
Peaked at 1,341 in 1900; 820 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Coal Hill’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Coal Hill, 1876 to 1933
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Coal Hill, decade by decade
Today2 recent
2021
2005Every building
Coal Hill, building by building, 1913
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1913Sheet 1 of 1Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the National Register
2 historic places in Coal Hill
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
2008
Hill, Taylor, Hotel
BuildingsStructures
All 2 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →3 famous people were born in Coal Hill
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Old burying grounds
Coal Hill’s post office has been open since 1876.
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Coal Hill
Coal HillHuddlestonSrygley
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Coal Hill’s history
What year was Coal Hill founded?
The Coal Hill post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Coal Hill?
Two places: the Hill, Taylor, Hotel (listed 2008) and the College Street Bridge (2026).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.