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History · Belspring

Belspring’s post office opened in 1906, and 69% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the John Hoge House. Below: maps from 1950 on.

1906first post office
1on the National Register
69%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Belspring began

When was Belspring founded?

1906

The Belspring post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Bell Spring (1881) and Churchwood (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 204120 years
Founding year: the first Belspring post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Belspring’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 Belspring are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Belspring’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Belspring, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Belspring’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Belspring’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 so far

Belspring, in brief

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

Belspring is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pulaski County, Virginia, United States, located at an elevation of 1,778 feet (542 m) above sea level. It has the ZIP Code 24058 and the area code 540. As of the 2020 census, Belspring had a population of 204. The John Hoge House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Its first post office opened in 1906. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 256 to 204 (-20%).

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Belspring’s post office has been open since 1906. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bell Spring
1881–1884
Churchwood
1884–1906
Belspring
1906–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Churchwood

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

Timeline

Belspring, 1881 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Bell Spring post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Bell Spring post office closes
  4. 1884Post officeThe Churchwood post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906Post officeThe Churchwood post office closes
  7. 1906Post officeThe Belspring post office opens
  8. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
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On the map

Belspring on the map, 1950 to 1998

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

Belspring on the 1950 USGS mapBelspring on the 1965 USGS mapBelspring on the 1970 USGS mapBelspring on the 1984 USGS mapBelspring on the 1998 USGS map1950Radford 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 Belspring.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Belspring

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
John Hoge House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Hall-Parlor1
John Hoge HouseHall-Parlor

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Belspring

Nobody well known was born in Belspring itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Henry KingAmerican film director · b. 1886
John B. FloydAmerican politician · b. 1806
L
Louis KingAmerican actor and movie director · b. 1898
Sally Miller GearhartAmerican teacher, feminist, science fiction wri… · b. 1931
Patri FriedmanAmerican libertarian activist and theorist of p… · b. 1976
S
Shayne GrahamPlayer of American football · b. 1977
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

ParrottIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Belspring’s history

What year was Belspring founded?

The Belspring post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Belspring?

One place: the John Hoge House (listed 1988).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.