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History · Claremont

Claremont’s post office opened in 1883, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1890.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Claremont began

When was Claremont founded?

1883

The Claremont post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Claremont Wharf (1860), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 189 in 18902020 census: 305143 years
Founding year: the first Claremont post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Claremont’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 Claremont are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 630 in 1910; 305 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Claremont’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Claremont’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

Claremont, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 630

Peaked at 630 in 1910; 305 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Claremont came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Claremont.

Read it all →

A granite marker in a circle in the center of town commemorates the landing here on May 5, 1607, of English settlers, before the landing at Jamestown across the navigable portion of the James River. English and Scotch emigrants had settled there, near the principal native American village called Quioughcohanock (probably located on what later became known as "Wharf Bluff") by 1632. In 1649, Arthur Allen patented lands in Surry County and by 1655 built Allen's Brick House in the lower part of the county. His descendants owned this property until 1882. His son Arthur Allen II in addition to his agricultural and mercantile activities became Speaker of the House of Burgesses. By the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Claremont was a busy port town and shipped many goods, but especially hogsheads of tobacco. Colonel William Allen served in the American Revolutionary War. Speaker Allen's gra…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Claremont, 1860 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860Post officeThe Claremont Wharf post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Claremont Wharf post office closes
  4. 1883Post officeThe Claremont post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 630
  7. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Claremont, decade by decade

Today18 recent
VAMap-doton-Claremont2005VAMap-doton-ClaremontFEMA - 9051 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9051 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9050 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9050 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9049 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9049 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9048 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9048 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9040 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9040 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9039 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9039 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9038 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9038 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9035 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-29-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9035 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9034 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9034 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9033 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9033 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9032 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9032 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9031 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9031 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9030 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9030 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9029 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9029 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9028 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9028 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9027 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9027 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…FEMA - 9026 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-2003 in Virginia2003FEMA - 9026 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09…
On the map

Claremont on the map, 1954 to 1986

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

Claremont on the 1954 USGS mapClaremont on the 1966 USGS mapClaremont on the 1978 USGS mapClaremont on the 1986 USGS map1954Claremont 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 Claremont.

Places that used to be

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

Claremont’s post office has been open since 1883. Another post office, Claremont Wharf, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Claremont Wharf
1860–1883
Claremont
1883–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Claremont Manor
Gone or out of use
Burdocks WharflocaleTelluride Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Claremont
Saint Anne's

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

Questions about Claremont’s history

What year was Claremont founded?

The Claremont post office opened in 1883, 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 →
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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 (18), 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.