Big Stone Gap’s post office opened in 1856, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #75 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 29 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1900.
The Big Stone Gap post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cadet (1902), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,617 in 19002020 census: 5,254170 years
How historic is Big Stone Gap?
B
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Big Stone Gap post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Big Stone Gap’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Big Stone Gap is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #75 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Big Stone Gap’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 Big Stone Gap’s 73.6 sits above most of its state (71% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 38 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 points). 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 Big Stone Gap’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Big Stone Gap, building by building, 1908–1923
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.
The community was formerly known as "Mineral City" and "Three Forks" before officially taking its name in 1888. The "Big Stone Gap" refers to the valley created on the Appalachia Straight, located between the town and Appalachia. The town served as an important center for coal and iron development in the 1880s and 1890s and residents hoped its coal and iron ore deposits would make it "the Pittsburgh of the South", although that nickname would later be used by the significantly larger city of Birmingham, Alabama.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Big Stone Gap. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1922Big Stone Gap 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 Big Stone Gap.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewLinda King finds working as a roof bolter's helper at the Bullitt Mine in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, more challenging... …, 1979
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Big Stone Gap’s page.
The Big Stone Gap post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Big Stone Gap rank for history?
Big Stone Gap is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #75 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 Big Stone Gap?
8 listings: 7 buildings, among them the "June Tolliver" House (listed 1973, the first), and 1 historic district, the Big Stone Gap Downtown Historic District, with 29 contributing buildings. 38 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Big Stone Gap?
11% of Big Stone Gap’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (10), the Library of Congress (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.
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