Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Cumberland

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
Buildings in Cumberland, VAPhoto: Ser Amantio di Nicolao · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Cumberland

Cumberland’s post office opened in 1893, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Cumberland was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 111 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1958 on, and old-book passages.

1893first post office
2on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cumberland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cumberland began

When was Cumberland founded?

1893

The Cumberland post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cumberland Courthouse (1794), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 365133 years
Founding year: the first Cumberland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cumberland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Cumberland Court House Historic District takes in 111 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

2 listings protect 114 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
114
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
Cumberland County Courthouse
Cumberland County CourthouseCumberland Court House Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Early Republic2
Colonial Revival2
Early Classical Revival1
Federal1
Mid-19th Century1
Greek Revival1
Cumberland County CourthouseEarly Republic
Cumberland Court House Historic DistrictEarly Republic

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

Help out

Start Cumberland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cumberland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCumberland on the York river 1862: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Cumberland, in brief

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

Cumberland is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Virginia, United States. Cumberland lies along U.S. Route 60 and State Route 45. It is 48 miles (77 km) west of Richmond and 51 miles (82 km) east of Amherst. The population as of the 2020 census was 365.

Its first post office opened in 1893. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 393 to 365 (-7%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Cumberland in 1855

Passages that mention Cumberland, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The town of Cumberland is, in every respect, an interesting and important place, and there are probably few more generally known to the travelling community. Situated at the foot of the great Alleghany range of mountains, and the western terminus (at present, and most probably for all time to come,…
Rambles in the path of the steam-horse. An off-hand olla podrida, embracing a general historical and descriptive view of the scenery, agricultural and mineral resources, and prominent features of the travelled route from Baltimore to Harper's Ferry, Cumbe1855 · page 251Read the page →
Read the text

The town of Cumberland is, in every respect, an interesting and important place, and there are probably few more generally known to the travelling community. Situated at the foot of the great Alleghany range of mountains, and the western terminus (at present, and most probably for all time to come,) of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, it has long enjoyed an extensive shipping trade, which has been but slightly interfered with by the completion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. From the time of Braddock's expedition, Cumberland has been the eastern

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The right of way through the town of Cumberland had been secured, after considerable negotiation, but the right of prior location along the North Branch of the Potomac, was claimed to be vested in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, as assignees of the old Potomac Company, whose charter dated as…
Rambles in the path of the steam-horse. An off-hand olla podrida, embracing a general historical and descriptive view of the scenery, agricultural and mineral resources, and prominent features of the travelled route from Baltimore to Harper's Ferry, Cumbe1855 · page 91Read the page →
Read the text

The right of way through the town of Cumberland had been secured, after considerable negotiation, but the right of prior location along the North Branch of the Potomac, was claimed to be vested in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, as assignees of the old Potomac Company, whose charter dated as far back as 17S4.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Cumberland, 1794 to 1958

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1794Post officeThe Cumberland Courthouse post office opens
  3. 19th century
  4. 1862In the archiveCumberland on the York river 1862
  5. 1893Post officeThe Cumberland Courthouse post office closes
  6. 1893Post officeThe Cumberland post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1915In the archiveExterior of courthouse
  9. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Cumberland, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s3 items
Cumberland on the York river 18621862Cumberland on the York river 1862Panoramic views of encampment of Army of Potomac at Cumberland Landing, on Pamunky River, May 18621862Panoramic views of encampment of Army of Potomac at C…Camp at Cumberland with a view of the Pamunkey River full of gunboats and transports1862Camp at Cumberland with a view of the Pamunkey River …
1910s1 item
Exterior of courthouse1915Exterior of courthouse
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today14 recent
20180912-FNS-PJK-0394 TONED201820180912-FNS-PJK-0394 TONED20180912-FNS-PJK-0391 TONED201820180912-FNS-PJK-0391 TONED20180912-FNS-PJK-0148 TONED201820180912-FNS-PJK-0148 TONED20180912-FNS-PJK-0141 TONED201820180912-FNS-PJK-0141 TONED20180912-FNS-PJK-0126 TONED201820180912-FNS-PJK-0126 TONED20180912-FNS-PJK-0121 TONED201820180912-FNS-PJK-0121 TONED20180912-FNS-PJK-0108 TONED201820180912-FNS-PJK-0108 TONED20180912-FNS-PJK-0082 TONED201820180912-FNS-PJK-0082 TONED20180912-FNS-PJK-0069 TONED201820180912-FNS-PJK-0069 TONED20180912-FNS-PJK-0018 TONED201820180912-FNS-PJK-0018 TONED2017-06-27 18 02 27 View south along Virginia State Route 45 (Cumberland Road) at U.S. Route 60 (Anderson Highway) in20172017-06-27 18 02 27 View south along Virginia State R…Govenor's Visit BCL2015Govenor's Visit BCLBuildings in2015Buildings inInstragram images from Nov 18, 2014 Uploaded by SA used in blog2014Instragram images from Nov 18, 2014 Uploaded by SA us…
On the map

Cumberland on the map in 1958

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cumberland.

Cumberland on the 1958 USGS map1958Jetersville 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 Cumberland.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Cumberland on the York river 1862
Retake this viewCumberland on the York river 1862, 1862

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cumberland’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Cumberland’s post office has been open since 1893. Another post office, Cumberland Courthouse, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cumberland Courthouse
1794–1893
Cumberland
1893–today
17901910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hillcrest

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

Questions about Cumberland’s history

What year was Cumberland founded?

The Cumberland post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Cumberland?

Two places: the Cumberland County Courthouse (listed 1994) and the Cumberland Court House Historic District (2007).

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 (15), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.