Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Burke

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
DHistory
History · Burke

Burke’s post office opened in 1903, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #173 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Sydenstricker School. Most of Burke was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1980.

1903first post office
1on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Burke began

When was Burke founded?

1903

The Burke post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sangster's Station (1852), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 33,835 in 19802020 census: 42,312123 years

How historic is Burke?

D

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Burke post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Burke’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Burke is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #173 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Burke’s overall grade.
Founding era1903, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19401.1% of homes (±0.7) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 0.5 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 14%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 32%

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 Burke’s 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (36% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size. 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 Burke’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 Burke are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 57,737 in 2000; 42,312 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Burke, and 3 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19157 editions of the USGS map, 1915 to 1994. Watch Burke change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Burke’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Burke’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

Burke, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,000198020002020Peak: 57,737

Peaked at 57,737 in 2000; 42,312 people lived here in 2020.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Burke had its own post office from 1903 to 1972. Another post office, Sangster's Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sangster's Station
1852–1866
Burke
1903–1972
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Five ForksHomewoodKeene Mill Heights
Gone or out of use
Kingswood Bible SchoolschoolLee Chapelchurch
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Burke
Burke FamilyLee ChapelSydenstricker United Methodist Church

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

The story

How Burke came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Burke.

Read it all →

Burke is named after Silas Burke (1796–1854), who built a house on a hill overlooking the valley of Pohick Creek in approximately 1824. Burke was a farmer, merchant, and local politician. He was a judge, sheriff, director of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad Company, president of the Fairfax Agricultural Society and the Fairfax Turnpike Company, among other leadership titles. He was also an overseer of the Fitzhugh’s plantation, which meant that he managed the Fitzhugh’s slaves and farming tasks. Burke also had personal slaves for his own farm. The Silas Burke house still stands.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Burke, 1852 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Sangster's Station post office opens
  3. 1866Post officeThe Sangster's Station post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Post officeThe Burke post office opens
  6. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1972Post officeThe Burke post office closes
  8. 1976Born hereGlennon Doyle is born here
  9. 1981Born hereByron Saxton is born here
  10. 1992Born hereAntoine Douglas is born here
  11. 21st century
  12. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 57,737
By decade

Burke, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Burke Centre Library2011Burke Centre LibraryBurke Centre Library2011Burke Centre LibraryBurke Centre Library2011Burke Centre LibraryBurke Centre Library2011Burke Centre Library5507, Party Central20105507, Party CentralLake Braddock Secondary School2006Lake Braddock Secondary School
On the map

Burke on the map, 1915 to 1994

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

Burke on the 1915 USGS mapBurke on the 1944 USGS mapBurke on the 1951 USGS mapBurke on the 1966 USGS mapBurke on the 1971 USGS mapBurke on the 1984 USGS mapBurke on the 1994 USGS map1915Fairfax 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 Burke.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Burke

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2012
Sydenstricker School
Sydenstricker School
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

One-Room School1
Sydenstricker SchoolOne-Room School

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Burke

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

See all →
Byron SaxtonAmerican professional wrestling announcer · b. 1981
Glennon DoyleAmerican author and activist · b. 1976
A
Antoine DouglasAmerican boxer · b. 1992
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

West SpringfieldIts storyDBurke CentreIts storyD−South RunIts storyD−Kings Park WestIts storyDNewington Forest1 historic placeC−Fairfax Station1 historic placeC−Kings ParkIts storyD−Long BranchIts storyD−

Questions about Burke’s history

What year was Burke founded?

The Burke post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Burke rank for history?

Burke is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #173 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 Burke?

One place: the Sydenstricker School (listed 2012).

How old are the homes in Burke?

1% of Burke’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1979.

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 Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.