More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #5 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Moton, Robert Russa, High School, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 290 buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Farmville is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #5 of 253 in Virginia. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Farmville’s overall grade.
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 Farmville’s 379 sits above most of its state (87% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 295 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.2 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Farmville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Farmville, building by building, 1886–1918
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Near the headwaters of the Appomattox River, the town of Farmville was formed in 1798 and incorporated in 1912.
Between 1795 and 1890, Farmville was the western terminus of the Upper Appomattox Canal Navigation System. Constructed by Enslaved African Americans, who built the canal system to significantly improve navigation on the river and thereby successfully enabled transport of commodity crops of tobacco and farm produce via bateau on the James River, from Farmville and to Petersburg, Virginia — until the canal system was displaced by railroads.
Passages that mention Farmville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Prince Edward County, Virginia1922 · page 41Read the page →
Read the text
Court remove the Books, Papers, and Furniture in the Clerk's Office, and in the existing Court House, and Jail, to the Clerk's Office, and Court House, and Jail, in Farmville, and thereafter the Court shall be held in Farmville. THIRD: That the real estate and other corporate property of the County of Prince Edward, be, and the same is hereby delivered to the Supervis-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Farmville, 1800 to 1998
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Farmville is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #5 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 Farmville?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Moton, Robert Russa, High School (a National Historic Landmark since 1998), and the Longwood House (listed 1984, the first), and 1 historic district, the Farmville Historic District, with 290 contributing buildings. 295 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Farmville?
26% of Farmville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
★ Landmark
1865
1865
1865
1867
1936
1936
1936
1936
2016
2016
2016
2016
2016
2015
2005
