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History · Ruffin

Ruffin’s post office opened in 1869, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1971 on.

1869first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Ruffin began

When was Ruffin founded?

1869

The Ruffin post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Rawlingsburgh (1820), Little Rock (1852) and Stacyville (1855), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 322157 years
Founding year: the first Ruffin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ruffin’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 Ruffin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ruffin.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ruffin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ruffin’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Ruffin’s post office has been open since 1869. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Rawlingsburgh
1820–1866
Little Rock
1852–1855
Stacyville
1855–1869
Ruffin
1869–today
18201920today
1cemetery inside Ruffin
Ruffin

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

The story

How Ruffin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ruffin.

Read it all →

With the completion of the Piedmont Railroad by the Confederate Government in 1864, the village of Ruffin experienced steady growth. Subsequently, Ruffin became an important center of trade for both Rockingham and Caswell counties. Yet, substantial growth and commerce were to elude Ruffin. Instead, the prosperity found a home in the nearby community of Reidsville. There is speculation that growth in Ruffin was doomed because the local landowners wanted the community to remain rural and undeveloped. Consequently, a booming town could not materialize.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ruffin, 1820 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1820Post officeThe Rawlingsburgh post office opens
  3. 1852Post officeThe Little Rock post office opens
  4. 1855Post officeThe Little Rock post office closes
  5. 1855Post officeThe Stacyville post office opens
  6. 1866Post officeThe Rawlingsburgh post office closes
  7. 1869Post officeThe Stacyville post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Ruffin, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Location of2025Location of
On the map

Ruffin on the map, 1971 to 2002

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

Ruffin on the 1971 USGS mapRuffin on the 1994 USGS mapRuffin on the 2002 USGS map1971Ruffin sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ruffin.

Famous people

Famous people close to Ruffin

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

See all →
Nancy Astor, Viscountess AstorFirst female Member of Parliament to take her s… · b. 1879
E
Emma TillmanSupercentenarian, oldest person in the world · b. 1892
Donna EdwardsAmerican politician · b. 1958
Tony RiceAmerican bluegrass musician · b. 1951
Ben CookAmerican stage actor · b. 1997
R
Richard JewellAmerican police officer · b. 1962

Questions about Ruffin’s history

What year was Ruffin founded?

The Ruffin post office opened in 1869, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.