The story
Read it all →How Daleville came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Daleville.
Nininger's Mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Daleville
Daleville’s post office opened in 1876, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #120 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Most of Daleville was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Its Register listings are the Nininger's Mill and the Greenfield Kitchen and Quarters. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 2000.
1876first post office
2on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Daleville began
When was Daleville founded?
1876
The Daleville post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Amsterdam (1828) and Mapleville (1914), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,454 in 20002020 census: 3,070150 years
How historic is Daleville?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Daleville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Daleville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Daleville is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #120 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Daleville’s overall grade.
Founding era1876, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.7% of homes (±4.2) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 4 historic buildings, 10.5 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 36%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 53%
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 Daleville’s 10.5 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 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 Daleville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Daleville’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Daleville’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Daleville’s post office has been open since 1876. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Amsterdam
Daleville
Mapleville
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Amsterdam
1cemetery inside Daleville
Peery
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Daleville, 1828 to 1964
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1828Post officeThe Amsterdam post office opens
- 1876Post officeThe Daleville post office opens
- 20th century
- 1914Post officeThe Mapleville post office opens
- 1914Post officeThe Mapleville post office closes
- 1929
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1964Post officeThe Amsterdam post office closes
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Daleville on the map, 1929 to 1972
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Daleville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1929Roanoke sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Daleville.
On the National Register
2 historic places in Daleville
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Nininger's Mill
Buildings
All 2 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Daleville, census by census
Grew from 1,454 people in 2000 to 3,070 in 2020.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Daleville’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Daleville’s history
What year was Daleville founded?
The Daleville post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Daleville rank for history?
Daleville is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #120 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 Daleville?
Two places: the Nininger's Mill (listed 1980) and the Greenfield Kitchen and Quarters (2022).
How old are the homes in Daleville?
4% of Daleville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 2002.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.