Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Brodnax

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Brodnax

Brodnax’s post office opened in 1890, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1920.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: James Shelton32 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Brodnax began

When was Brodnax founded?

1890

The Brodnax post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 235 in 19202020 census: 283136 years
Founding year: the first Brodnax post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Brodnax’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 Brodnax are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 569 in 1970; 283 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brodnax’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brodnax’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
People over time

Brodnax, census by census

0100200300400500600192019401960198020002020Peak: 569

Peaked at 569 in 1970; 283 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Brodnax came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brodnax.

Read it all →

Brodnax, Virginia was a stop on the Atlantic and Danville Railway. Due to Virginia Law, alcoholic spirits could not be sold on the Atlantic and Danville Railway train within two miles of Brodnax in 1896. The Southern Railway Company, which leased the A&D starting in 1899, made significant improvements to the passenger depot in Brodnax in 1904. Today, the Tobacco Heritage Trail runs through the town on the old Atlantic and Danville Railway.

The Church Home for Aged, Infirm and Disabled Colored People was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Brodnax, 1890 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Brodnax post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 569
By decade

Brodnax, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Brodnax skyline2020Brodnax skylineBrodnax Station on the Atlantic and Danville Railway2020Brodnax Station on the Atlantic and Danville RailwayVAMap-doton-Brodnax2005VAMap-doton-Brodnax
On the map

Brodnax on the map, 1968 to 1981

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

Brodnax on the 1968 USGS mapBrodnax on the 1981 USGS map1968La Crosse 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 Brodnax.

Famous people

Famous people close to Brodnax

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

See all →
Braxton BraggConfederate Army general · b. 1817
Saxby ChamblissAmerican politician · b. 1943
Chris DaughtryAmerican musician and American Idol contestant · b. 1979
Jerome KerseyAmerican basketball player · b. 1962
George GrizzardAmerican actor · b. 1928
John Y. MasonAmerican politician · b. 1799

Questions about Brodnax’s history

What year was Brodnax founded?

The Brodnax post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (3), Wikipedia, 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.