Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 26 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers.
The Gretna post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Elba (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gretna is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Gretna’s 213 sits above most of its state (78% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 31 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gretna’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Gretna.
The Gretna Commercial Historic District and Yates Tavern are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Sharswood Plantation, a historic tobacco plantation, is located near Gretna.
The Gretna High football program has produced some prolific teams and claims 5 AA state championships.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Gretna’s page.
Retake this view · +15Gretna’s post office has been open since 1912. Another post office, Elba, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Gretna post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Gretna is more historic than 48% 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.
Three places: the Yates Tavern (listed 1974), the Gretna Commercial Historic District (2013) and the Thomas Claiborne Creasy House (2015).
13% of Gretna’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1965.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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