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B−History
History · Galesville

Galesville’s post office opened in 1924, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Tulip Hill, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1892 on.

1924first post office
3on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Galesville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Galesville began

When was Galesville founded?

1924

The Galesville post office opened in 1924, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Galloways (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 623102 years

How historic is Galesville?

B−

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Galesville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Galesville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Galesville is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Galesville’s overall grade.
Founding era1924, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194019.6% of homes (±13.5) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register3 listings, 5 historic buildings, 47.1 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 53%
NewerOlder

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 Galesville’s 47.1 sits above most of its state (80% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±13.5 points). 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 Galesville’s past

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

On the map since 18926 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1997. Watch Galesville change.A National Historic Landmark3 places on the National Register, including Tulip Hill, a National Historic Landmark.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Galesville, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Galesville’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · On the map

Galesville on the map, 1892 to 1997

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

Galesville on the 1892 USGS mapGalesville on the 1905 USGS mapGalesville on the 1944 USGS mapGalesville on the 1957 USGS mapGalesville on the 1970 USGS mapGalesville on the 1997 USGS map1892Owensville sheet · 1:62,500

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

On the National Register

3 historic places in Galesville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmark
1
Tulip Hill
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1969
Cedar Park
Norman's RetreatTulip Hill★
Buildings★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Georgian1
Federal1
★ Landmark
Tulip HillGeorgian
Cedar ParkBuilt 1825
Norman's RetreatFederal

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Galesville’s post office has been open since 1924. Another post office, Galloways, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Galloways
1879–1924
Galesville
1924–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Galesville EstatesHolly LandingShady Oaks
Gone or out of use
Ebenezer Churchchurch

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

The story

How Galesville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Galesville.

Read it all →

The area was an early center of Quaker settlement in America and, through the West River Friends meeting, it is considered the birthplace of organized Quakerism in Maryland. The town was once the terminus of a steamship line connecting to Annapolis and Baltimore. Once a thriving community of Chesapeake Bay watermen and their families, the town has developed an industry around pleasure boating.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Galesville, 1825 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1825BuiltCedar Park is built
  3. 1879Post officeThe Galloways post office opens
  4. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1924Post officeThe Galloways post office closes
  7. 1924Post officeThe Galesville post office opens
  8. 1968In the archiveBOILER, LOCATED IN BACK ROOM OF OYSTER SHUCKING BUILDING. STEAM WAS USED IN OYSTER PROCES…
  9. 1970LandmarkTulip Hill named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Galesville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s6 items
BOILER, LOCATED IN BACK ROOM OF OYSTER SHUCKING BUILDING. STEAM WAS USED IN OYSTER PROCESSING, FOR EXAMPLE IN STERILIZI…1968BOILER, LOCATED IN BACK ROOM OF OYSTER SHUCKING BUILD…DETAIL ELEVATION OF FORMER SHELL MILL BUILDING. - F. and H. Benning Company, 1014 Benning Road, Galesville, Anne Arunde…1968DETAIL ELEVATION OF FORMER SHELL MILL BUILDING. - F. …DETAIL OF SPARE CONICAL CRUSHER AND GRINDING BURR WHEELS REMOVED FROM THE MILLING MACHINE. - F. and H. Benning Company …1968DETAIL OF SPARE CONICAL CRUSHER AND GRINDING BURR WHE…ELEVATION OF FORMER SHELL MILL BUILDING AND SHEDS. - F. and H. Benning Company, 1014 Benning Road, Galesville, Anne Aru…1968ELEVATION OF FORMER SHELL MILL BUILDING AND SHEDS. - …GENERAL VIEW OF FORMER F. and H. BENNING COMPLEX NORTH TOWARDS TENTHOUSE CREEK. THE SHELL MILL WAS LOCATED IN THE BUILD…1968GENERAL VIEW OF FORMER F. and H. BENNING COMPLEX NORT…NORTH ELEVATION OF OYSTER SHUCKING BUILDING. SHUCKING TOOK PLACE AT FRONT OF BUILDING WHERE WINDOWS ARE LOCATED. - F. a…1968NORTH ELEVATION OF OYSTER SHUCKING BUILDING. SHUCKING…
1970s–1990snothing 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
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.

BOILER, LOCATED IN BACK ROOM OF OYSTER SHUCKING BUILDING. STEAM WAS USED IN OYSTER PROCESSING, FOR EXAMPLE IN STERILIZI…
Retake this viewBOILER, LOCATED IN BACK ROOM OF OYSTER SHUCKING BUILDING. STEAM WAS USED IN OYSTER PROCESSING, FOR EXAMPLE IN STERILIZI…, 1968

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Galesville

Nobody well known was born in Galesville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Barbara KingsolverAmerican author, poet and essayist · b. 1955
James M. CainAmerican novelist, short story writer, journali… · b. 1892
Charles Carroll of CarrolltonAmerican planter and signatory of the Declarati… · b. 1737
Kyle BeckermanAmerican soccer player · b. 1982
Debbie MeyerAmerican swimmer · b. 1952
Jack AndrakaAmerican scientist, inventor and cancer researc… · b. 1997
Help out

Finish Galesville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBOILER, LOCATED IN BACK ROOM OF OYSTER …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Shady Side3 historic placesB+

Questions about Galesville’s history

What year was Galesville founded?

The Galesville post office opened in 1924, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Galesville rank for history?

Galesville is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. 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 Galesville?

Three places: the Tulip Hill (listed 1970), the Cedar Park (1969) and the Norman's Retreat (1984).

How old are the homes in Galesville?

20% of Galesville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.5 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1957.

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 (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.