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C+History
History · Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge’s post office opened in 1835

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #104 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

Most of Blue Ridge was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 2000.

1835first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Blue Ridge began

When was Blue Ridge founded?

1835

The Blue Ridge post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Fluke (1826) and Blue Ridge Springs (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 3,188 in 20002020 census: 3,185191 years

How historic is Blue Ridge?

C+

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Blue Ridge post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Blue Ridge’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Blue Ridge is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #104 of 253 in Virginia. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Blue Ridge’s overall grade.
Founding era1835, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19407.3% of homes (±5.3) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical VA town 3.6 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 42%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 59%

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 Blue Ridge’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±5.3 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 Blue Ridge’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 Blue Ridge are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Blue Ridge, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1835: 191 years of Blue Ridge.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Blue Ridge’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blue Ridge’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 and burying grounds

Blue Ridge’s post office has been open since 1835. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fluke
1826–1897
Blue Ridge
1835–today
Blue Ridge Springs
1873–1924
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lynchburg Mines
1cemetery inside Blue Ridge
Blue Ridge

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

Timeline

Blue Ridge, 1826 to 1993

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1826Post officeThe Fluke post office opens
  3. 1835Post officeThe Blue Ridge post office opens
  4. 1873Post officeThe Blue Ridge Springs post office opens
  5. 1897Post officeThe Fluke post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1924Post officeThe Blue Ridge Springs post office closes
  8. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1993Born hereLindsley Register is born here
The story so far

Blue Ridge, in brief

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

Blue Ridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in southern Botetourt County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,185 at the 2020 census. The CDP is located along U.S. Route 460. It is part of the Roanoke metropolitan area.

Its first post office opened in 1835. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,084 to 3,185 (+3%).

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

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

Blue Ridge on the map, 1929 to 1985

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

Blue Ridge on the 1929 USGS mapBlue Ridge on the 1933 USGS mapBlue Ridge on the 1963 USGS mapBlue Ridge on the 1972 USGS mapBlue Ridge on the 1985 USGS map1929Roanoke 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 Blue Ridge.

People over time

Blue Ridge, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,50020002020Peak: 3,188

Between 3,084 and 3,188 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

LaymantownIts storyD

Questions about Blue Ridge’s history

What year was Blue Ridge founded?

The Blue Ridge post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Blue Ridge rank for history?

Blue Ridge is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #104 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.

How old are the homes in Blue Ridge?

7% of Blue Ridge’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 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.