Arcola’s post office opened in 1832, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #107 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Most of Arcola was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2016. Its Register listings are the Arcola Slave Quarters and the Arcola Elementary School. Below: maps from 1933 on.
Founding year: the first Arcola post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Arcola’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Arcola is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #107 of 253 in Virginia. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Arcola’s overall grade.
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 Arcola’s 5.7 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Arcola’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The genesis of Arcola was a small spring next to a gum tree that fed into the south fork of Broad Run, suitably called "Gum Springs". During the colonial era a distillery, kiln and small church were established at the spring.
When Cameron Parish was established from Truro Parish, its glebe, the area reserved to support the parish priest, was established just northwest of the spring. The glebelands were sold off in 1802 when the Virginia General Assembly divested all Anglican glebes.
The Arcola post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Arcola rank for history?
Arcola is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #107 of 253 in Virginia. 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.
What is on the National Register in Arcola?
Two places: the Arcola Slave Quarters (listed 2008) and the Arcola Elementary School (2013).
How old are the homes in Arcola?
0.0% of Arcola’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 2016.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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