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History · Falls Mills

Falls Mills’ post office opened in 1872

Most of Falls Mills was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1911 on.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Falls Mills began

When was Falls Mills founded?

1872

The Falls Mills post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 305154 years
Founding year: the first Falls Mills post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Falls Mills’ 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 Falls Mills are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19115 editions of the USGS map, 1911 to 2001. Watch Falls Mills change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Falls Mills’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Falls Mills on the map, 1911 to 2001

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

Falls Mills on the 1911 USGS mapFalls Mills on the 1924 USGS mapFalls Mills on the 1962 USGS mapFalls Mills on the 1979 USGS mapFalls Mills on the 2001 USGS map1911Pocahontas Special 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 Falls Mills.

The story

How Falls Mills came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Falls Mills.

Read it all →

Falls Mills received its name from a mill there, located at a natural dam in the Bluestone River. Another dam, built by Norfolk and Western Railroad across Mud Fork creek, reaches twenty feet high and spans several hundred feet to form a lake more than a mile long. Through the mid- to late 1900s the lake was a summer resort area with boating, fishing and cabins. Residents still enjoy fishing in the lake, which is maintained and stocked by the Falls Mills Fishing Club.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Falls Mills, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Engagement at Falls Mills Historical Marker2009Engagement at Falls Mills Historical Marker
Famous people

Famous people close to Falls Mills

Nobody well known was born in Falls Mills itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
John Forbes NashAmerican mathematician and economist · b. 1928
Norman I. PlatnickAmerican arachnologist · b. 1951
Kathryn HarroldAmerican actress · b. 1950
C
Charlie BarnettAmerican actor and comedian · b. 1954
Fred M. WilcoxAmerican film director · b. 1907
Rod ThornAmerican basketball player · b. 1941
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Falls Mills’s post office has been open since 1872.

Gone or out of use
Virginia Schoolschool

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

Questions about Falls Mills’ history

What year was Falls Mills founded?

The Falls Mills post office opened in 1872, 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 →
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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 (1), 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.