5 of Glen Allen’s places are on the National Register
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #108 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Most of Glen Allen was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1980.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Glen Allen is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #108 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Glen Allen’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 Glen Allen’s 6.8 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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 (±1.7 points) is firm at this size.
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 Glen Allen’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Called "Mountain Road Crossing" when rail service began in 1836, the settlement which came to be known as Glen Allen took its name from the homestead of a local landowner, Mrs. Benjamin Allen. Its most noted resident was Captain John Cussons, a native Englishman, Confederate scout, author, and entrepreneur. Cussons made his residence here after the Civil War and founded a successful printing company. Later, he built a fashionable resort hotel adjacent to the railroad tracks, which was known as Forest Lodge.
Glen Allen used to be mostly rural farmland, but it is now a growing suburb of Richmond.
Glen Allen is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #108 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 Glen Allen?
5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Virginia Randolph Cottage (a National Historic Landmark since 1974) and the Meadow Farm (listed 1974, the first), 1 historic district, the Laurel Industrial School Historic District, with 5 contributing buildings, and 1 object. 12 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Glen Allen?
3% of Glen Allen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 (6), the Library of Congress (2), 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) 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.
★ Landmark
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