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History · Dante

Dante’s post office opened in 1903, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings. Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1950.

1903first post office
1on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Dante began

When was Dante founded?

1903

The Dante post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, West Dante (1936), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 2,405 in 19502020 census: 572123 years
Founding year: the first Dante post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dante’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 Dante are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Dante’s homes were built before 1945.On the map since 19206 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1991. Watch Dante change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dante’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dante’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
The story

How Dante came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dante.

Read it all →

Dante (rhymed with "paint", sometimes rhymed with "pant", but never rhymed with "Dante Alighieri") was originally called "Turkeyfoot" due to the confluence of hollows. It was originally settled in the late 1700s and early 1800s by western frontiersmen.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Dante on the map, 1920 to 1991

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

Dante on the 1920 USGS mapDante on the 1935 USGS mapDante on the 1958 USGS mapDante on the 1969 USGS mapDante on the 1978 USGS mapDante on the 1991 USGS map1920Coeburn 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 Dante.

Timeline

Dante, 1903 to 1947

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Post officeThe Dante post office opens
  3. 1920On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1922Born hereHarry Perkowski is born here
  5. 1936Post officeThe West Dante post office opens
  6. 1947Post officeThe West Dante post office closes
By decade

Dante, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Dante-entrance-va2020Dante-entrance-vaDante-RR-tracks-va2020Dante-RR-tracks-vaDante-Coal-and-Railroad-Museum-va2020Dante-Coal-and-Railroad-Museum-va
On the National Register

1 listing protects 6 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
2023
Dante Downtown Historic District
Dante Downtown Historic District
Districts
All 1 listings
Dante Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2023

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

People over time

Dante, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001960198020002020Peak: 2,405

Between 572 and 2,405 people in every census since 1950.

6 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Places that used to be

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

Dante’s post office has been open since 1903. Another post office, West Dante, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dante
1903–today
West Dante
1936–1947
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
TrammelWest Dante
Gone or out of use
Dante High Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Dante
Skeen

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

Questions about Dante’s history

What year was Dante founded?

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

What is on the National Register in Dante?

One place: the Dante Downtown Historic District (listed 2023).

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 (3), 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.