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History · Martinsburg

Martinsburg dates to 1857, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1880.

1857founded
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Martinsburg began

When was Martinsburg founded?

1857

Martinsburg dates its founding to 1857 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 225 in 18802020 census: 251169 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓

What stands out about Martinsburg’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 Martinsburg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 530 in 1930; 251 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Martinsburg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Martinsburg’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
People over time

Martinsburg, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 530

Peaked at 530 in 1930; 251 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Martinsburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Martinsburg.

Read it all →

Martinsburg was founded in 1857 and was named after its founder, William R. Martin.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Martinsburg, 1857 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857
    FoundingMartinsburg is established
  3. 1870Post officeThe Martinsburg post office opens
  4. 1895Born hereAdolph John Paschang is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 530
  7. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Martinsburg on the map, 1942 to 1984

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

Martinsburg on the 1942 USGS mapMartinsburg on the 1973 USGS mapMartinsburg on the 1984 USGS map1942Wellsville 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 Martinsburg.

Questions about Martinsburg’s history

What year was Martinsburg founded?

In 1857, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Martinsburg’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1880 counted 225 people here.

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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.