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B−History
History · Earlysville

Earlysville’s post office opened in 1845, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Earlysville was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listings are the Longwood and the Earlysville Union Church. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1935 on.

1845first post office
2on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Earlysville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Earlysville began

When was Earlysville founded?

1845

The Earlysville post office opened in 1845, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,153181 years

How historic is Earlysville?

B−

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Earlysville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Earlysville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Earlysville is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Earlysville’s overall grade.
Founding era1845, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±2.7) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register2 listings, 4 historic buildings, 32.7 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 47%
NewerOlder

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 Earlysville’s 32.7 sits near the middle of its state (62% 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 A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.7 points) is firm at this size. 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 Earlysville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1845: 181 years of Earlysville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Earlysville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewUnion Church, Route 743: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Earlysville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Earlysville.

Read it all →

It is named for John Early (1773–1833), a relative of Confederate general Jubal Early. In 1822, John Early bought just under 1,000 acres (4 km2) of land from his father-in-law that now comprise a portion of the town. Earlysville has a small central business district (pictured at right), consisting of a thrift store, an auto repair shop, a United States Post Office, and a coworking space. There is a nearby light industrial park and several small suburban developments. The bulk of the area is rural in character.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Earlysville, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
Union Church, Route 743Date?Union Church, Route 743Buck Mountain Episcopal Church, State Route 743Date?Buck Mountain Episcopal Church, State Route 743
Today3 recent
2016-06-03 07 41 59 View south along U.S. Route 29 (Seminole Trail) near20162016-06-03 07 41 59 View south along U.S. Route 29 (S…Earlysville, Virginia2008Earlysville, VirginiaEarlysville Volunteer Fire Department Truck2006Earlysville Volunteer Fire Department Truck
On the map

Earlysville on the map, 1935 to 1977

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

Earlysville on the 1935 USGS mapEarlysville on the 1949 USGS mapEarlysville on the 1965 USGS mapEarlysville on the 1977 USGS map1935Charlottesville 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 Earlysville.

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.

Union Church, Route 743
Retake this viewUnion Church, Route 743

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Earlysville

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
1996
Longwood
Earlysville Union Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Colonial Revival1
Early Classical Revival1
LongwoodFederal
Earlysville Union ChurchEarly Classical Revival

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Earlysville’s post office has been open since 1845.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Deer RunEarlysville HeightsMill Run
1cemetery inside Earlysville
Buck Mountain

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

Questions about Earlysville’s history

What year was Earlysville founded?

The Earlysville post office opened in 1845, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Earlysville rank for history?

Earlysville is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns. 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 Earlysville?

Two places: the Longwood (listed 1996) and the Earlysville Union Church (1997).

How old are the homes in Earlysville?

0.0% of Earlysville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1985.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.