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C−History
History · Travilah

Travilah’s post office opened in 1883, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #163 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Edward Beale House. Most of Travilah was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 2000.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Travilah’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Travilah began

When was Travilah founded?

1883

The Travilah post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 7,442 in 20002020 census: 11,985143 years

How historic is Travilah?

C−

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Travilah’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Travilah is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #163 of 261 in Maryland. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Travilah’s overall grade.
Founding era1883, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.0% of homes (±1.1) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.9 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 24%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 38%

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 Travilah’s 0.9 sits near the middle of its state (47% 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 D to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 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 Travilah’s past

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

Lost villages19 hamlets and corners are still on the map.On the map since 19086 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1994. Watch Travilah change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Travilah had its own post office from 1883 to 1908.

Travilah
1883–1908
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BeallmountBelvedereBig PinesEstates at Rivers EdgeEsworthy EstatesEsworthy ParkFarmlandsGlen HillsGlen QueryHollinridgeLake PotomacNorth PotomacPolo Club EstatesPotomac Chase EstatesPotomac Hunt AcresStoney Creek EstatesStoney Creek FarmTobytownTravilah Meadows

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

On the map

Travilah on the map, 1908 to 1994

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

Travilah on the 1908 USGS mapTravilah on the 1944 USGS mapTravilah on the 1952 USGS mapTravilah on the 1968 USGS mapTravilah on the 1980 USGS mapTravilah on the 1994 USGS map1908Seneca 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 Travilah.

The story

How Travilah came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Travilah.

Read it all →

The Travilah community has a long history that dates back to the 1800s at a crossroads at what is now Travilah Road and Glen Road. A small unnamed agricultural community grew at this intersection in the mid-1800s because it was less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (a.k.a. C&O Canal). The intersecting roads also led to mills that were located within a few miles of the intersection, and many of the area farms produced the wheat used by the mills to make flour.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Travilah, 1865 to 1989

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865In the archiveLock 22 1865 Selby
  3. 1879In the archiveTravilah MD 1878
  4. 1883Post officeThe Travilah post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1908Post officeThe Travilah post office closes
  7. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1911In the archivePennifield Obit 1911
  9. 1989In the archiveTravilah Square Shopping Center in the early 1980s, by Tom Marchessault
By decade

Travilah, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1870s4 items
Lock 22 1865 Selby1865Lock 22 1865 SelbyLock 22 and 23 1865 CO Canal1865Lock 22 and 23 1865 CO CanalLock 24 1865 CO Canal1865Lock 24 1865 CO CanalTravilah MD 18781879Travilah MD 1878
1910s3 items
Pennifield Obit 19111911Pennifield Obit 1911Pennyfield Obit Cropped1911Pennyfield Obit CroppedTravilah Horse Racers 19131913Travilah Horse Racers 1913
1920s–1970snothing 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
1980s1 item
Travilah Square Shopping Center in the early 1980s, by Tom Marchessault1989Travilah Square Shopping Center in the early 1980s, b…
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
Today10 recent
Pennyfield Lock sign2020Pennyfield Lock signGreenbriarParkTravilah2020GreenbriarParkTravilahGreenbriarParkSign2020GreenbriarParkSignDuFief Mill-Travilah-C&O2020DuFief Mill-Travilah-C&OTravilah CDP Map from US Census2020Travilah CDP Map from US CensusMapTravilah Serpentine Barrens Wooded Area2015Travilah Serpentine Barrens Wooded AreaPlaque recognizing the Travilah Oak for its age2011Plaque recognizing the Travilah Oak for its ageMule path on the C ^ O Canal2009Mule path on the C ^ O CanalMule path on the C ^ O Canal - panoramio (1)2009Mule path on the C ^ O Canal - panoramio (1)MDMap-doton-Travilah2004MDMap-doton-Travilah
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.

Lock 22 1865 Selby
Retake this viewLock 22 1865 Selby, 1865

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Travilah

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
Edward Beale House
Edward Beale House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1
Edward Beale HouseColonial Revival

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

People over time

Travilah, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00020002020Peak: 12,159

Between 7,442 and 12,159 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Travilah

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

See all →
Richard SchiffAmerican actor · b. 1955
Hilarie BurtonAmerican actress · b. 1982
Daniel SternAmerican actor, artist, director and screenwrit… · b. 1957
LogicAmerican rapper from Maryland · b. 1990
Shane McMahonAmerican businessman and professional wrestler · b. 1970
Amina WadudAmerican Islamic scholar · b. 1952
Help out

Finish Travilah’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLock 22 1865 Selby: 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.

Potomac4 historic placesBDarnestownIts storyC−Rockville11 historic placesA−North PotomacIts storyD

Questions about Travilah’s history

What year was Travilah founded?

The Travilah post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Travilah rank for history?

Travilah is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #163 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 Travilah?

One place: the Edward Beale House (listed 1996).

How old are the homes in Travilah?

1% of Travilah’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1990.

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 (18), 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.