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CHistory
History · Ashburn

Ashburn’s post office opened in 1896, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #145 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

Most of Ashburn was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 4 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1952 on and the census since 1990.

1896first post office
3on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Ashburn began

When was Ashburn founded?

1896

The Ashburn post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Farmwell (1860) and Ryan (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 3,393 in 19902020 census: 46,349130 years

How historic is Ashburn?

C

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Ashburn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ashburn’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ashburn is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #145 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ashburn’s overall grade.
Founding era1896, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.4) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register3 listings, 5 historic buildings, 1.1 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 26%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 43%

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 Ashburn’s 1.1 sits near the middle of its state (41% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 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 Ashburn’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 Ashburn are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ashburn, and 5 old place names are still on the map.Famous sons and daughtersEmily Fox, Ashley Caldwell and 7 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ashburn’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ashburn’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, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Ashburn’s post office has been open since 1896. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Farmwell
1860–1896
Ryan
1889–1946
Ashburn
1896–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Ashburn FarmAshburn VillageAshby Ponds Senior Living CommunityPotomac GreenRyan
Gone or out of use
Ashburn Colored SchoolschoolBroad Run TollhousebuildingCedar Lane ChurchchurchGreater Zion Baptist Churchchurch
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ashburn
Ashburn PresbyterianCraven FamilyTippett's Hill

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

Famous people

9 famous people were born in Ashburn

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Emily FoxAmerican soccer player · b. 1998
Ashley CaldwellAmerican freestyle skier · b. 1993
Holly KingAmerican soccer player · b. 1991
J.B. BukauskasAmerican baseball player · b. 1996
S
Shane JohnsonAmerican soccer player · b. 1989
Trace "The Goat" McSorleyAmerican football player · b. 1995
The story

How Ashburn came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ashburn.

Read it all →

Ashburn, located in eastern Loudoun County, Virginia, was originally part of a rural agricultural region known as Farmwell. The land was divided among several estates during the 18th and 19th centuries, forming part of the broader plantation economy that defined much of northern Virginia. During the Civil War, Loudoun County was deeply divided, and while Ashburn did not see major battles, it was affected by nearby troop movements, raids, and the broader regional instability at the time.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ashburn, 1860 to 1998

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860Post officeThe Farmwell post office opens
  3. 1889Post officeThe Ryan post office opens
  4. 1896Post officeThe Farmwell post office closes
  5. 1896Post officeThe Ashburn post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1946Post officeThe Ryan post office closes
  8. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1991Born hereHolly King is born here
  10. 1993Born hereAshley Caldwell is born here
  11. 1996Born hereJ.B. Bukauskas is born here
  12. 1998Born hereEmily Fox is born here
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Ashburn on the map, 1952 to 1994

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

Ashburn on the 1952 USGS mapAshburn on the 1968 USGS mapAshburn on the 1972 USGS mapAshburn on the 1980 USGS mapAshburn on the 1994 USGS map1952Sterling 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 Ashburn.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Ashburn

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Broad Run Bridge and Tollhouse
Broad Run Bridge and TollhouseAshburn Presbyterian ChurchOld Welbourne Farm and Dulany Family Cemetery
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Late Gothic Revival1
Carpenter Gothic1
Broad Run Bridge and TollhouseDistrict
Ashburn Presbyterian ChurchLate Gothic Revival
Old Welbourne Farm and Dulany Family CemeteryDistrict

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Ashburn, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,0002000202046,349

Grew from 3,393 people in 1990 to 46,349 in 2020, more than tenfold.

3 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

One LoudounIts storyD−KincoraIts storyD−BroadlandsIts storyD−Belmont1 historic placeB−MoorefieldIts storyDGoose Creek VillageIts storyD−University CenterIts storyD−Sterling1 historic placeC−Dulles Town CenterIts storyD−

Questions about Ashburn’s history

What year was Ashburn founded?

The Ashburn post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Ashburn rank for history?

Ashburn is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #145 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 Ashburn?

Three places: the Broad Run Bridge and Tollhouse (listed 1970), the Ashburn Presbyterian Church (1999) and the Old Welbourne Farm and Dulany Family Cemetery (2014).

How old are the homes in Ashburn?

0.5% of Ashburn’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 2000.

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).

From Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.