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History · Glenvar

Glenvar’s post office opened in 1896, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Glenvar was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Pleasant Grove.

1896first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Glenvar began

When was Glenvar founded?

1896

The Glenvar post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 892130 years
Founding year: the first Glenvar post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Glenvar’s 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 Glenvar are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Glenvar’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Glenvar, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Glenvar yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Glenvar is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Roanoke County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Glenvar had a population of 892. The center of the community lies along US 11/US 460 about one mile west of the Salem city limits. The community is home to Glenvar High School which serves most of the western sections of Roanoke County. As a result, the entire area of Roanoke County which is west of Salem and in the Roanoke Valley between Poor Mountain and Fort Lewis Mountain, including other communities such as Wabun, Fort Lewis, and Dixie Caverns, is often called Glenvar. In January 2020 the Swedish truck maker Volvo announced that they would build an assembly plant for it…

Its first post office opened in 1896. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 976 to 892 (-9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the National Register

1 historic place in Glenvar

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
2003
Pleasant Grove
Pleasant Grove
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Pleasant GroveGreek Revival

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Glenvar

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

See all →
John C. MatherAmerican astrophysicist and cosmologist · b. 1946
Henrietta LacksAmerican woman whose cancer cells are the sourc… · b. 1920
Henry KingAmerican film director · b. 1886
John PayneAmerican actor · b. 1912
David HuddlestonAmerican actor · b. 1930
Lynn BariAmerican actress · b. 1913
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Glenvar had its own post office from 1896 to 1932.

Glenvar
1896–1932
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Andrew LewisLewis Place

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Salem19 historic placesA−

Questions about Glenvar’s history

What year was Glenvar founded?

The Glenvar post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Glenvar?

One place: the Pleasant Grove (listed 2003).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.