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History · Luke

Luke dates to 1757, and 70% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1919 on and the census since 1930.

1757founded
0on the National Register
70%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Alainmoscoso · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Luke began

When was Luke founded?

1757

Luke dates its founding to 1757 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 1,064 in 19302020 census: 85269 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1897.The full story ↓

What stands out about Luke’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Luke are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Luke’s homes were built before 1938.Older than the countryEstablished in 1757, 19 years before the Declaration of Independence.On the map since 19194 editions of the USGS map, 1919 to 1996. Watch Luke change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Luke’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Luke came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Luke.

Read it all →

The town of Luke was settled in the early 1770s after the organization of Hampshire County, West Virginia (at that time part of Virginia) in 1757. Among the first settlers to arrive were the Davis brothers (Henry and Thomas), who established a saw mill where the town of Luke now stands. The mill provided cross-ties to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as it pushed its rails westward through the Piedmont area of what is now West Virginia.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Luke, 1757 to 1968

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1757
    FoundingLuke is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1897Post officeThe Luke post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1919On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1968Post officeThe Luke post office closes
By decade

Luke, decade by decade

Today3 recent
NewPage Corporation2014NewPage CorporationCity Building2014City BuildingMDMap-doton-Luke2004MDMap-doton-Luke
On the map

Luke on the map, 1919 to 1996

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

Luke on the 1919 USGS mapLuke on the 1922 USGS mapLuke on the 1981 USGS mapLuke on the 1996 USGS map1919Elk Garden 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 Luke.

People over time

Luke, census by census

02004006008001,00019401960198020002020Peak: 1,064

Between 65 and 1,064 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Luke

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

See all →
H
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.American literary critic, professor and histori… · b. 1950
D
Don RedmanAmerican musician · b. 1900
Lefty GroveAmerican baseball player · b. 1900
Binger HermannAmerican politician · b. 1843
William M. O. DawsonAmerican politician · b. 1853
Stephen Wheeler DowneyAmerican politician · b. 1839
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Luke had its own post office from 1897 to 1968.

Luke
1897–1968
18901960today

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

Questions about Luke’s history

What year was Luke founded?

In 1757, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Luke’s post office opened in 1897, and the census of 1930 counted 1,064 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.