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History · Vale Summit

Vale Summit’s post office opened in 1882, and 76% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1898 on.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
76%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Vale Summit began

When was Vale Summit founded?

1882

The Vale Summit post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 111144 years
Founding year: the first Vale Summit post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Vale Summit’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 Vale Summit are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18986 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1998. Watch Vale Summit change.Old housesHalf of Vale Summit’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vale Summit’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vale Summit’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

Vale Summit on the map, 1898 to 1998

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

Vale Summit on the 1898 USGS mapVale Summit on the 1901 USGS mapVale Summit on the 1950 USGS mapVale Summit on the 1974 USGS mapVale Summit on the 1981 USGS mapVale Summit on the 1998 USGS map1898Frostburg 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 Vale Summit.

The story

How Vale Summit came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vale Summit.

Read it all →

Local lore indicates that the community was so named in the mid 19th century, founded by the local population of coal miners. Previously, however, it was locally known as "Pompey Smash", the origin of which is commonly believed to have come from a slave named Pompey crashing his wagonload of coal. A main road through the village still bears the name "Pompey Smash Road".

A paved road reached the town circa 1921, from Clarysville, along Route 40.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vale Summit, 1882 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Vale Summit post office opens
  3. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1941Post officeThe Vale Summit post office closes
By decade

Vale Summit, decade by decade

Today2 recent
2020-05-27 15 41 05 View north along Maryland State Route 55 (Vale Summit Road) just north of Maryland State Route 36 (…20202020-05-27 15 41 05 View north along Maryland State R…2016-06-25 10 26 02 View north along Maryland State Route 55 (Vale Summit Road) just north of Maryland State Route 36 (…20162016-06-25 10 26 02 View north along Maryland State R…
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Vale Summit had its own post office from 1882 to 1941.

Vale Summit
1882–1941
18801950today

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

Questions about Vale Summit’s history

What year was Vale Summit founded?

The Vale Summit post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (2), 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.