Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Drakes Branch

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
–Not graded
History · Drakes Branch

Drakes Branch’s post office opened in 1853, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1880.

1853first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Drakes Branch began

When was Drakes Branch founded?

1853

The Drakes Branch post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 87 in 18802020 census: 533173 years
Founding year: the first Drakes Branch post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Drakes Branch’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 Drakes Branch are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 759 in 1960; 533 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Drakes Branch’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Drakes Branch’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

Drakes Branch, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 759

Peaked at 759 in 1960; 533 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story so far

Drakes Branch, in brief

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

Drakes Branch is a town in Charlotte County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Drakes Branch had a population of 533.

Its first post office opened in 1853. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 530 in 2010, 533 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Drakes Branch, 1853 to 1983

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853Post officeThe Drakes Branch post office opens
  3. 1895Born hereJoe Lewis is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 759
  7. 1983Born hereJohn McCargo is born here
By decade

Drakes Branch, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Drakes Branch 472020Drakes Branch 47Gethsemane United Presbyterian Church Cemetery2017Gethsemane United Presbyterian Church Cemetery2017-06-27 15 11 21 View north along Virginia State Route 59 (Gethsemane Church Avenue) at Virginia State Route 47 (Mai…20172017-06-27 15 11 21 View north along Virginia State R…2017-06-27 15 09 32 View north along Virginia State Route 47 (Le Grande Avenue) at Gregory Lane in20172017-06-27 15 09 32 View north along Virginia State R…VAMap-doton-DrakesBranch2005VAMap-doton-DrakesBranch
On the map

Drakes Branch on the map, 1954 to 1990

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

Drakes Branch on the 1954 USGS mapDrakes Branch on the 1968 USGS mapDrakes Branch on the 1990 USGS map1954Clover 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 Drakes Branch.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Drakes Branch

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
John McCargoAmerican football player · b. 1983
J
Joe LewisAmerican baseball player · b. 1895
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Drakes Branch’s post office has been open since 1853.

Gone or out of use
Organ Hill Schoolschool

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

Questions about Drakes Branch’s history

What year was Drakes Branch founded?

The Drakes Branch post office opened in 1853, 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 →
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 (5), 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.