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History · Felts Mills

Felts Mills’ post office opened in 1823, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1903 on.

1823first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Felts Mills began

When was Felts Mills founded?

1823

The Felts Mills post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 473203 years
Founding year: the first Felts Mills post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Felts Mills’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19034 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1982. Watch Felts Mills change.Deep rootsA post office since 1823: 203 years of Felts Mills.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Felts Mills’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSterlingville (Village); Black River (V…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Felts Mills on the map, 1903 to 1982

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

Felts Mills on the 1903 USGS mapFelts Mills on the 1948 USGS mapFelts Mills on the 1958 USGS mapFelts Mills on the 1982 USGS map1903Theresa 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 Felts Mills.

The story

How Felts Mills came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Felts Mills.

Read it all →

Felts Mills was sited on one of several natural falls on the Black River and first settled with the construction of a gristmill in about 1800. An improved dam was erected in 1821, and a stone mill in the following year. In 1824, John Felts constructed the large sawmills that gave the town its name. In 1889, the Taggart Paper Company built a large paper mill on an island across the river, ruins of which are still visible today.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Felts Mills, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Sterlingville (Village); Black River (Village); Pamelia Four Cors. (Village); Pamelia Four Corners Business Directory.;…1864Sterlingville (Village); Black River (Village); Pamel…
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.

Sterlingville (Village); Black River (Village); Pamelia Four Cors. (Village); Pamelia Four Corners Business Directory.;…
Retake this viewSterlingville (Village); Black River (Village); Pamelia Four Cors. (Village); Pamelia Four Corners Business Directory.;…, 1864

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Felts Mills

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

See all →
John CarpenterAmerican filmmaker, composer and actor · b. 1948
Allen DullesFirst civilian and longest-serving Director of … · b. 1893
Melvil DeweyAmerican librarian · b. 1851
Robert LansingAmerican politician · b. 1864
Richard GriecoFull name: Richard John Grieco, Jr.; b. 3/23/65… · b. 1965
Frank Winfield WoolworthAmerican businessman · b. 1852

Questions about Felts Mills’ history

What year was Felts Mills founded?

The Felts Mills post office opened in 1823, 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 (1), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.