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C−History
History · Gainesville

Gainesville’s post office opened in 1852, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #160 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

Most of Gainesville was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2007. Its Register listing is the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Cemetery. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1933 on.

1852first post office
1on the National Register
0.2%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gainesville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Gainesville began

When was Gainesville founded?

1852

The Gainesville post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 18,112174 years

How historic is Gainesville?

C−

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Gainesville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gainesville is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #160 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gainesville’s overall grade.
Founding era1852, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.2% of homes (±0.3) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.5 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 20%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 37%

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 Gainesville’s 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (37% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 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 Gainesville’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gainesville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMonument on Battlefield of Groveton: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Gainesville’s post office has been open since 1852.

Haymarket
1800–today
Gainesville
1852–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hillwood Park Mobile Home ParkKennard RidgeLakeviewLakeview Estates
Gone or out of use
Gainesville Schoolschool

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

The story

How Gainesville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gainesville.

Read it all →

Gainesville was once a changing point for stagecoach horses on the Fauquier and Alexandria Turnpike. In earlier times, the village that became known as "Gainesville" actually had two other names, though only briefly. In the colonial era, the region was known as the "Middle Grounds", a reference to its location between Broad Run and Bull Run.

In the early 1800s, Samuel Love of Buckland Hall started work on the Warrenton–Alexandria Turnpike. In the hamlet where the turnpike passed through the Middle Grounds, a new stable was erected for stagecoach drivers to switch horses. Other businesses followed, and the settlement became known as New Stable.

Chapters19th century20th century21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gainesville, 1800 to 1998

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1800Post officeThe Haymarket post office opens
  3. 1852Post officeThe Gainesville post office opens
  4. 1862In the archiveMonument on Battlefield of Groveton
  5. 20th century
  6. 1907Born hereJohn Carter is born here
  7. 1933On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1998Born hereBrandon Williamson is born here
By decade

Gainesville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Monument on Battlefield of Groveton1862Monument on Battlefield of Groveton
Today17 recent
Gainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VAGainesville, VA2010Gainesville, VABuick Roadmaster -- 04-22-20102010Buick Roadmaster -- 04-22-2010US Rte. 29 outside2009US Rte. 29 outsideNew construction in2009New construction inVAMap-doton-Gainesville2005VAMap-doton-Gainesville
On the map

Gainesville on the map, 1933 to 1994

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

Gainesville on the 1933 USGS mapGainesville on the 1953 USGS mapGainesville on the 1968 USGS mapGainesville on the 1972 USGS mapGainesville on the 1983 USGS mapGainesville on the 1994 USGS map1933Middleburg 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 Gainesville.

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.

Monument on Battlefield of Groveton
Retake this viewMonument on Battlefield of Groveton, 1862

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Gainesville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2021
Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Cemetery
Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Cemetery
Buildings
Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and CemeteryBuilding

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Gainesville

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

See all →
J
John CarterAmerican sound engineer · b. 1907
B
Brandon WilliamsonAmerican soccer player · b. 1998
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Linton Hall1 historic placeC−Haymarket2 historic placesB−

Questions about Gainesville’s history

What year was Gainesville founded?

The Gainesville post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Gainesville rank for history?

Gainesville is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #160 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 Gainesville?

One place: the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Cemetery (listed 2021).

How old are the homes in Gainesville?

0.2% of Gainesville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 2007.

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.