Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 84 buildings. Below: maps from 1942 on.
The Forestville post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 2023.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Forestville’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Forestville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Forestville is a CDP in Shenandoah County, in the U.S. state of Virginia. The Forestville Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
Its first post office opened in 1847.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Forestville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Forestville.
Nobody well known was born in Forestville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Forestville had its own post office from 1847 to 1955.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Forestville post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 2023.
Two places: the Zirkle Mill (listed 1983) and the Forestville Historic District (2011).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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.
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