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AHistory
History · Greenville

Greenville’s post office opened in 1810, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Fannie Thompson House. Below: maps from 1944 on and the census since 2000.

1810first post office
1on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Greenville began

When was Greenville founded?

1810

The Greenville post office opened in 1810, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 886 in 20002020 census: 887216 years

How historic is Greenville?

A

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Greenville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenville is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Greenville’s overall grade.
Founding era1810, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194043.8% of homes (±20.4) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register1 listing, 8.5 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder

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 Greenville’s 8.5 sits near the middle of its state (52% 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 B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±20.4 points). 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 Greenville’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 Greenville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1810: 216 years of Greenville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Greenville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Greenville’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
Timeline

Greenville, 1810 to 1944

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1810Post officeThe Greenville post office opens
  3. 1836Born hereRobert D. Lilley is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907Born hereKate Smith is born here
  6. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Greenville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greenville.

Read it all →

As early as 1794, Greenville was platted and divided into 14 lots of 1-acre (4,000 m2) and sold by Thomas and Jane Steele. Greenville soon became a very busy stagecoach stop. This was because there were 3 major roads all intersecting at or near Greenville. One road connected Greenville with Staunton, another ran from Waynesboro to Middlebrook, and the south road led to Midway (now Steeles Tavern), Fairfield, and Lexington. The town slowly grew, and by 1810, the population had grown to 162, comparing to Staunton's 1225, and Waynesboro's 250. An 1835 account of Greenville said that it had an extensive manufacturing flour mill and a woolen manufactory, two physicians in the area, contained 50 dwelling houses, 3 general stores, 2 taverns, 1 academy, 2 tanyards, 2 saddlers, 2 tailors, 1 blacksmith shop, 1 cabinet maker, 1 wheelwright, 1 saddle tree maker, 3 house carpenters, 1 hatter, and 4 …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Greenville in 1882

Passages that mention Greenville, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Greenville is 12 miles south of Staunton, on the Lexington road. It has a population of about 250. It has churches, shops, a flouring-mill, resident physicians, several stores, &c. It is about a mile north of the Shenandoah Valley railroad, and is prosperous and thriving. There is a sprightly weekl…
History of Augusta County, Virginia1882 · page 267Read the page →
Read the text

Greenville is 12 miles south of Staunton, on the Lexington road. It has a population of about 250. It has churches, shops, a flouring-mill, resident physicians, several stores, &c. It is about a mile north of the Shenandoah Valley railroad, and is prosperous and thriving. There is a sprightly weekly paper published at this place, called the "Greenville Banner."

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Greenville, decade by decade

Today10 recent
House with pro-Trump and anti-Democratic signage along U.S. Route 11 in Greenville, Virginia 042022House with pro-Trump and anti-Democratic signage alon…House with pro-Trump and anti-Democratic signage along U.S. Route 11 in Greenville, Virginia 032022House with pro-Trump and anti-Democratic signage alon…House with pro-Trump and anti-Democratic signage along U.S. Route 11 in Greenville, Virginia 022022House with pro-Trump and anti-Democratic signage alon…House with pro-Trump and anti-Democratic signage along U.S. Route 11 in Greenville, Virginia 012022House with pro-Trump and anti-Democratic signage alon…2019-08-02 11 42 05 View south along U.S. Route 11 (Lee Jackson Highway) from the overpass for Interstate 81 in20192019-08-02 11 42 05 View south along U.S. Route 11 (L…2019-06-06 13 51 29 View east along Interstate 64 and north along Interstate 81 at Exit 213 (U.S. Route 11, U.S. Route …20192019-06-06 13 51 29 View east along Interstate 64 and…2019-06-06 13 17 42 View west along Interstate 64 and south along Interstate 81 at Exit 213A (U.S. Route 11 SOUTH, Gree…20192019-06-06 13 17 42 View west along Interstate 64 and…Larry and Jenny Keel VIP Campfire Jam 2 Greenville VA November 20122012Larry and Jenny Keel VIP Campfire Jam 2 Greenville VA…Greenvillemain2008GreenvillemainVAMap-doton-Greenville2005VAMap-doton-Greenville
On the map

Greenville on the map, 1944 to 1964

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

Greenville on the 1944 USGS mapGreenville on the 1964 USGS map1944Staunton 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 Greenville.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Greenville

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
2018
Fannie Thompson House
Fannie Thompson House
Buildings
Fannie Thompson HouseBuilding

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

People over time

Greenville, census by census

020040060080020002020Peak: 887

Between 832 and 887 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greenville’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Greenville

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

See all →
Kate SmithAmerican singer · b. 1907
Robert D. LilleyConfederate Army general · b. 1836

Questions about Greenville’s history

What year was Greenville founded?

The Greenville post office opened in 1810, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Greenville rank for history?

Greenville is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns. 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 Greenville?

One place: the Fannie Thompson House (listed 2018).

How old are the homes in Greenville?

44% of Greenville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±20.4 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1965.

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 (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.