More historic than 3% of U.S. towns · #251 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Most of St. James was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: maps from 1944 on and old-book passages.
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers
How St. James began
When was St. James founded?
1946
The St. James post office opened in 1946, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, College Saint James (1847) and Lydia (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 4,75780 years
How historic is St. James?
D−
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first St. James post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives St. James’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. James is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #251 of 261 in Maryland. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. James’ overall grade.
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 St. James’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 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 St. James’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
College Saint James
1847–1901
Lydia
1889–1946
Saint James
1946–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Green HillSaint JamesSaint James Village
Gone or out of use
Chapel Woods SchoolschoolNewhope ChurchchurchSaint James School Post Officepost office
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
St. James, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of St. James yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
St. James is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,657 at the 2000 census. It is also the home of St. James School, Hagerstown, a small, Episcopalian, boarding school. St. James was formerly named "Lydia."
Its first post office opened in 1946. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,953 to 4,757 (+61%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about St. James in 1906
Passages that mention St. James, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Washington County, Maryland from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown1906 · page 382Read the page →
Read the text
islature. The whole County was contained in All Saints Parish, Frederick County. A small chapel was built at an early date in the woods between the present College of St. James and the Sharpsburg turnpike, which is still known as “Chapel Woods.” In 1761 a petition was sent to the leg¬ islature representing that this chapel was decayed and too small to contain the congregation, and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Washington County, Maryland from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown1906 · page 550Read the page →
Read the text
Rector of St, Andrew’s Parish of Shepherdstown, W. Va. A petition was presented in 1819 to the Diocesan convention of Maryland from a number of Episcopalians residing in the St. James Parish for permission to establish a separate con¬ gregation at Sharpsburg and the convention acted favorably. For some time the congregation wor¬ shipped in the old Lutheran Church. On May
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
St. James, 1847 to 1946
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The St. James post office opened in 1946, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does St. James rank for history?
St. James is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #251 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.
How old are the homes in St. James?
2% of St. James’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 2000.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
