Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 30 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1910.
The Appalachia post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Inman (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Appalachia is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Appalachia’s 216 sits above most of its state (79% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 30 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Appalachia’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Peaked at 3,595 in 1930; 1,432 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Appalachia’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Appalachia.
The Appalachia post office was established in 1898. The community was named for the surrounding Appalachian Mountains. The Derby Historic District, Kelly View School, and Stonega Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born herePeggie Castle is born here
In the archiveWork projects: Enrollee William L. CrossOne decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2016Virginia State Line - panoramio (1)
2015VA Service and Conservation Corps
2015VA Service and Conservation Corps
2015VA Service and Conservation Corps
2015VA Service and Conservation Corps
2015VA Service and Conservation Corps
2015VA Service and Conservation Corps
2014Appalachian sunrise
2009Aerial photograph of Appalachia High School in
2005VAMap-doton-Appalachia
2005DowntownEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Appalachia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Appalachia.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1908Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Appalachia’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Appalachia’s post office has been open since 1898. Another post office, Inman, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Appalachia post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Appalachia is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
One place: the Appalachia Commercial Historic District (listed 2019).
33% of Appalachia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1964.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
