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History · Gore

Gore’s post office opened in 1890, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Gore was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Its Register listing is the Willa Cather Birthplace. Below: maps from 1916 on.

1890first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Gore began

When was Gore founded?

1890

The Gore post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Back Creek Valley (1821), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 249136 years
Founding year: the first Gore post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Gore’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 Gore are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19167 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1987. Watch Gore change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gore’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gore’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
On the map

Gore on the map, 1916 to 1987

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

Gore on the 1916 USGS mapGore on the 1923 USGS mapGore on the 1937 USGS mapGore on the 1943 USGS mapGore on the 1965 USGS mapGore on the 1972 USGS mapGore on the 1987 USGS map1916Capon Bridge 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 Gore.

The story so far

Gore, in brief

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

Gore is an unincorporated community in western Frederick County, Virginia, United States, located off the Northwestern Turnpike on Gore Road (SR 751), west of Winchester. The community is nestled in the Back Creek Valley. It has been called "Back Creek." As of the 2020 census, Gore had a population of 249. Gore serves as the western terminus of the Winchester and Western Railroad. It is home to the Gore plant of Unimin Corporation .

Its first post office opened in 1890.

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

Timeline

Gore, 1821 to 1916

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1821Post officeThe Back Creek Valley post office opens
  3. 1873Born hereWilla Cather is born here
  4. 1890Post officeThe Back Creek Valley post office closes
  5. 1890Post officeThe Gore post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Gore, decade by decade

Today2 recent
2019-10-15 10 09 42 View south along Virginia State Route 259 (Carpers Pike) just south of U.S. Route 50 (Northwestern …20192019-10-15 10 09 42 View south along Virginia State R…2016-08-23 18 48 50 View east along U.S. Route 50 (Northwestern Pike) at Harmony Hollow Lane in20162016-08-23 18 48 50 View east along U.S. Route 50 (No…
On the National Register

1 historic place in Gore

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
1978
Willa Cather Birthplace
Willa Cather Birthplace
Buildings
Willa Cather BirthplaceBuilding

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Gore’s post office has been open since 1890. Another post office, Back Creek Valley, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Back Creek Valley
1821–1890
Gore
1890–today
18201920today
Gone or out of use
Gore School Number 1schoolSmiths SchoolschoolWhite Oak School Number 1school

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

Questions about Gore’s history

What year was Gore founded?

The Gore post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Gore?

One place: the Willa Cather Birthplace (listed 1978).

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 Wikimedia Commons (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.