History · Colesville

Colesville’s post office opened in 1816, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #103 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of Colesville was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Its Register listing is the Milimar. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1945 on, and the census since 2000.

1816first post office

1on the National Register

2%homes built before 1940

3old photos & papers

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Colesville’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Colesville began

When was Colesville founded?

1816

The Colesville post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 19,810 in 20002020 census: 15,421210 years

How historic is Colesville?

B⁻

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Colesville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Colesville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Colesville is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #103 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Colesville’s overall grade.

Founding era1816, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 19402.2% of homes (±1.6) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%C⁻National Register1 listing, 0.7 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4B⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 46%

NewerOlder

Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 61%

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Colesville’s 0.7 sits near the middle of its state (45% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Colesville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages18 hamlets and corners are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1816: 210 years of Colesville.

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Colesville had its own post office from 1816 to 1923.

Colesville

1816–1923

18101920today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Carole AcresColesville ManorDrumeldra HillsEast SpringbrookFairknollFairview EstatesHollywood ParkHuntingtonMeadowoodNorth SpringbrookOak SpringsPaint Branch EstatesPaint Branch FarmsSherwood ForestSmithvilleSpringwoodWindham ManorWolf Acres

Gone or out of use

Smithville Elementary Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Colesville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Colesville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewHistoric American Buildings Survey John…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Timeline

Colesville, 1760 to 1999

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

18th century
1760BuiltMilimar is built
19th century
1816Post officeThe Colesville post office opens
20th century
1923Post officeThe Colesville post office closes
1936In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, Photographer October 20, 1936 3-20 P…
1945On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1999In the archive[Water Runoff 2] 412-DSP-2-Runoff 112 1

The story

How Colesville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Colesville.

Read it all →

The first land was purchased in Colesville from the Lords Baltimore in 1714, when Archibald Edmonston patented "Easy Purchase", a 900-acre (3.6 km2) tract that extended from Meadowood south to near present-day Route 29. In 1715, "Easy Purchase" was bought by James Beall Sr., who that year also patented "Drumeldry", a 225-acre (0.91 km2) tract from the Northwest Branch across Notley Road to Shannon Drive. In 1718, his nephew William Beall patented "Wolf's Den", a 317-acre (1.28 km2) tract that straddled today's Bonifant Road and ran from Notley Road to Pebblestone Drive, and then southwest across the Northwest Branch.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Colesville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s2 items

Historic American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, Photographer October 20, 1936 3-20 P. M. VIEW OF MILLER'S HOUSE FR…

1936Historic American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, …

Historic American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, Photographer October 20, 1936 3-30 P. M. DETAIL OF WINDOW AND BRIC…

1936Historic American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, …

1940s–1980snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

1990s1 item

1999[Water Runoff 2] 412-DSP-2-Runoff 112 1

Today3 recent

2013[Water Runoff 2] 412-DSP-2-Runoff 163

2012Milimar

2004MDMap-doton-Colesville

On the map

Colesville on the map, 1945 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Colesville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1945Kensington sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Colesville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewHistoric American Buildings Survey John O. Brostrup, Photographer October 20, 1936 3-20 P. M. VIEW OF MILLER'S HOUSE FR…, 1936

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Colesville’s page.

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 historic place in Colesville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1973

Milimar

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Georgian1

MilimarGeorgian · Built 1760

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Colesville, census by census

Between 14,647 and 19,810 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Colesville’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

FairlandIts storyC⁻GlenmontIts storyC CloverlyIts storyD Kemp MillIts storyD White Oak2 historic placesB⁻LayhillIts storyD WheatonIts storyD

Questions about Colesville’s history

What year was Colesville founded?

The Colesville post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Colesville rank for history?

Colesville is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #103 of 261 in Maryland. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Colesville?

One place: the Milimar (listed 1973).

How old are the homes in Colesville?

2% of Colesville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1968.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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