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History · Rainsburg

Rainsburg’s post office opened in 1827, and 66% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1927 on and the census since 1870.

1827first post office
0on the National Register
66%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Rainsburg began

When was Rainsburg founded?

1827

The Rainsburg post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1856.

First census: 250 in 18702020 census: 141199 years
Founding year: the first Rainsburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1856.The full story ↓

What stands out about Rainsburg’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 Rainsburg are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Rainsburg’s homes were built before 1938.Deep rootsA post office since 1827: 199 years of Rainsburg.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rainsburg’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Rainsburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rainsburg.

Read it all →

Rainsburg takes its name from Conrad Rain, its first inhabitant who lived in a round log building and arrived some time before 1786, when he was joined by Captain Jacob Adams and his wife Loretta Dustimer. The Adams arrived from Loudoun County, Virginia following Jacob's service during the Revolutionary War with the 7th Virginia Regiment. Jacob built the first hewed-log house in Rainsburg. (That hewed-log house would be replaced by Samuel Williams with a frame house in 1854).

ChaptersChurches

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Rainsburg, 1827 to 1935

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1827Post officeThe Rainsburg post office opens
  3. 1831Born hereCharles Powell Adams is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1935Post officeThe Rainsburg post office closes
By decade

Rainsburg, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Alleghany Male & Female Seminary - Rainsburg 18612023Alleghany Male & Female Seminary - Rainsburg 1861Rainsburg 1861 Map LOC2023Rainsburg 1861 Map LOCMapYeager Memorial Lutheran Church2019Yeager Memorial Lutheran ChurchRainsburg stone house2019Rainsburg stone houseRainsburg Evangelical & Reformed Church2008Rainsburg Evangelical & Reformed Church
On the map

Rainsburg on the map, 1927 to 1973

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

Rainsburg on the 1927 USGS mapRainsburg on the 1931 USGS mapRainsburg on the 1944 USGS mapRainsburg on the 1967 USGS mapRainsburg on the 1973 USGS map1927Hyndman 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 Rainsburg.

People over time

Rainsburg, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 280

Between 133 and 280 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Rainsburg had its own post office from 1827 to 1935.

Rainsburg
1827–1935
18201920today

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

Questions about Rainsburg’s history

What year was Rainsburg founded?

The Rainsburg post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1856.

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 (5), 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.