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History · Barboursville

Barboursville’s post office opened in 1811, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Barboursville and the Burlington. Below: maps from 1935 on and old-book passages.

1811first post office
2on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Barboursville began

When was Barboursville founded?

1811

The Barboursville post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 177215 years
Founding year: the first Barboursville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Barboursville’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 Barboursville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1811: 215 years of Barboursville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barboursville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barboursville’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
Timeline

Barboursville, 1775 to 1935

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1775Born hereJames Barbour is born here
  3. 1784Born hereZachary Taylor is born here
  4. 19th century
  5. 1811Post officeThe Barboursville post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Barboursville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Barboursville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Barboursville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Orange County, Virginia, United States. It is the birthplace of renowned American military commander and president Zachary Taylor. It also contains Barboursville, the home of James Barbour, the 19th governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, after whom the community is named. The ruins of his home are now on land owned by one of the Piedmont region's wineries, Barboursville Vineyards. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 177. The community is located at the intersection of VA 20 and US 33. Rural areas outside the community which use the Barboursville ZIP code include portions of …

Its first post office opened in 1811.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Barboursville in 1907

Passages that mention Barboursville, cut from the printed page as they were published.

A few small streams northwest of Barboursville fall into the Rivanna, and thence into the James. With this exception the waters ultimately reach the Rappahannock and the York. The very head spring of the York is on the Johnson farm, near the crest of the mountains where the Barboursville pike cross…
A History of Orange County, Virginia, from its formation in 1734 (o.s.) to the end of reconstruction in 18701907 · page 114Read the page →
Read the text

A few small streams northwest of Barboursville fall into the Rivanna, and thence into the James. With this exception the waters ultimately reach the Rappahannock and the York. The very head spring of the York is on the Johnson farm, near the crest of the mountains where the Barboursville pike crosses.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Barboursville, decade by decade

Today6 recent
2016-07-21 16 49 43 View north along Virginia State Route 20 (Constitution Highway) just north of U.S. Route 33 (Spotsw…20162016-07-21 16 49 43 View north along Virginia State R…2016-07-21 16 36 06 View north along Virginia State Route 20 (Constitution Highway) between Governor Barbour Street and…20162016-07-21 16 36 06 View north along Virginia State R…2016-07-21 16 30 50 View south along Virginia State Route 20 (Constitution Highway) between U.S. Route 33 (Spotswood Tr…20162016-07-21 16 30 50 View south along Virginia State R…2016-07-21 16 29 04 View east along U.S. Route 33 and south along Virginia State Route 20 (Spotswood Trail) between Bar…20162016-07-21 16 29 04 View east along U.S. Route 33 and…2016-07-21 16 11 26 View west along U.S. Route 33 (Spotswood Trail) at Governor Barbour Street in20162016-07-21 16 11 26 View west along U.S. Route 33 (Sp…2016-07-21 16 09 26 View west along U.S. Route 33 and north along Virginia State Route 20 (Spotswood Trail) between Old…20162016-07-21 16 09 26 View west along U.S. Route 33 and…
On the map

Barboursville on the map, 1935 to 1986

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

Barboursville on the 1935 USGS mapBarboursville on the 1949 USGS mapBarboursville on the 1964 USGS mapBarboursville on the 1972 USGS mapBarboursville on the 1986 USGS map1935Charlottesville 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 Barboursville.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Barboursville

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1969
Barboursville
BarboursvilleBurlington
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Jeffersonian1
Greek Revival1
BarboursvilleJeffersonian
BurlingtonGreek Revival

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Barboursville

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

See all →
Zachary TaylorPresident of the United States from 1849 to 1850 · b. 1784
James BarbourAmerican statesman and orator · b. 1775

Questions about Barboursville’s history

What year was Barboursville founded?

The Barboursville post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Barboursville?

Two places: the Barboursville (listed 1969) and the Burlington (1994).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.