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B−History
History · Urbana

Urbana’s post office opened in 1833, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #75 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of Urbana was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2009. Its Register listings are the Stancioff House, the Fat Oxen and the Cockey-Jamison-Hendrickson House and Store. Below: maps from 1908 on.

1833first post office
3on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Urbana began

When was Urbana founded?

1833

The Urbana post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 13,304193 years

How historic is Urbana?

B−

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Urbana’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Urbana is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #75 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 Urbana’s overall grade.
Founding era1833, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19401.9% of homes (±1.5) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register3 listings, 5 historic buildings, 3.5 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 55%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 72%

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 Urbana’s 3.5 sits near the middle of its state (59% 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 (±1.5 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 Urbana’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 Urbana are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19085 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1986. Watch Urbana change.Deep rootsA post office since 1833: 193 years of Urbana.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Urbana’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Urbana on the map, 1908 to 1986

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

Urbana on the 1908 USGS mapUrbana on the 1944 USGS mapUrbana on the 1953 USGS mapUrbana on the 1971 USGS mapUrbana on the 1986 USGS map1908Ijamsville 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 Urbana.

Timeline

Urbana, 1833 to 1994

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1833Post officeThe Urbana post office opens
  3. 1850BuiltCockey-Jamison-Hendrickson House and Store is built
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Post officeThe Urbana post office closes
  6. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1994Born hereJackson Eskay is born here
The story

How Urbana came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Urbana.

Read it all →

Urbana is the site of Landon House, which was built in 1754 along the Rappahannock River around Fredericksburg, Virginia. It was used as a seminary for girls. In 1840, Landon House was moved by boat to Washington and then by oxcarts to its present site in Urbana. Landon House later served as a military academy and a hospital during the Civil War. Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart's officers held a dance at Landon House in 1862. During the dance, Union cavalry advanced on the house, but the Confederate military drove the Union forces away and the dance continued.

Chapters18th, 19th, and 20th centuries2000–20102010–present

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Urbana, decade by decade

Today12 recent
2020-06-03 15 23 17 View east along Maryland State Route 80 (Fingerboard Road) at Sugarloaf Parkway in20202020-06-03 15 23 17 View east along Maryland State Ro…Waffle House in2019Waffle House in2019-06-18 14 31 22 View south along Interstate 270 (Washington National Pike) at Exit 26 (Maryland State Route 80, Urb…20192019-06-18 14 31 22 View south along Interstate 270 (…2019-06-18 13 57 37 View north along Interstate 270 (Washington National Pike) at Exit 26 (Maryland State Route 80, Urb…20192019-06-18 13 57 37 View north along Interstate 270 (…Urbanadistrictpark2016UrbanadistrictparkUrbanaWorthington2016UrbanaWorthingtonFanniemaeurbana2016FanniemaeurbanaAncc2016AnccUrbana, MD, USA - panoramio (1)2010Urbana, MD, USA - panoramio (1)UrbanaHighSchool2006UrbanaHighSchoolLobelia Periwinkle Blue 2zz2006Lobelia Periwinkle Blue 2zzLobelia Periwinkle Blue 1zz2006Lobelia Periwinkle Blue 1zz
On the National Register

3 historic places in Urbana

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Stancioff House
Stancioff HouseFat OxenCockey-Jamison-Hendrickson House and Store, built 1850
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Georgian1
Stancioff HouseBuilding
Fat OxenGeorgian
Cockey-Jamison-Hendrickson House and StoreBuilt 1850

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 burying grounds

Urbana had its own post office from 1833 to 1901.

Urbana
1833–1901
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CentervilleGibralter AcresSugarloaf Meadows
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Urbana
Ebenezer United Methodist ChurchSaint Ignatius of Loyola Catholic ChurchZion

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Green ValleyIts storyD

Questions about Urbana’s history

What year was Urbana founded?

The Urbana post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Urbana rank for history?

Urbana is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #75 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 Urbana?

Three places: the Stancioff House (listed 1975), the Fat Oxen (1979) and the Cockey-Jamison-Hendrickson House and Store (2018).

How old are the homes in Urbana?

2% of Urbana’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 2009.

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.