Collinsville’s post office opened in 1948, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #167 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Most of Collinsville was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Its Register listing is the John Redd Smith Elementary School. Below: maps from 1926 on.
The Collinsville post office opened in 1948, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Rough And Ready Mills (1849) and Mullinsville (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 7,38078 years
How historic is Collinsville?
C−
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Collinsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Collinsville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Collinsville is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #167 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Collinsville’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 Collinsville’s 1.4 sits near the middle of its state (41% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 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 Collinsville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Collinsville’s post office has been open since 1948. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Rough And Ready Mills
1849–1880
Mullinsville
1879–1890
Collinsville
1948–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Koehler
Gone or out of use
Rough and Ready MilllocaleShumate Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Collinsville, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Collinsville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Collinsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henry County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Collinsville had a population of 7,380. It is part of the Martinsville Micropolitan Statistical Area. Collinsville is also where the administration building and county courthouse of Henry County are located (though nearby Martinsville - an independent city which is not technically part of the county - is usually identified as the county seat).
Its first post office opened in 1948. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 7,335 in 2010, 7,380 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Collinsville, 1849 to 1973
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Collinsville post office opened in 1948, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Collinsville rank for history?
Collinsville is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #167 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 Collinsville?
One place: the John Redd Smith Elementary School (listed 2021).
How old are the homes in Collinsville?
6% of Collinsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
2017
