Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Gwynn

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
U.S. Post Office - Gwynn, VA (11938515494)Photo: Carmen Shields from United States · CC BY 2.0
–Not graded
History · Gwynn

Gwynn’s post office opened in 1883, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 640 buildings. Below: maps from 1948 on.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Carmen Shields from United States · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Gwynn began

When was Gwynn founded?

1883

The Gwynn post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 578143 years
Founding year: the first Gwynn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Gwynn’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Gwynn's Island Historic District takes in 640 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Gwynn are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 640 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
640
each building in a district counts
first listed
2024
Gwynn's Island Historic District
Gwynn's Island Historic District
Districts
All 1 listings
Gwynn's Island Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2024

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

Help out

Start Gwynn’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gwynn’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

Gwynn, in brief

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

Gwynn is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mathews County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Gwynn had a population of 578. Gwynn is located on Gwynn's Island, 5 miles (8.0 km) north-northeast of Mathews. Gwynn has a post office with ZIP code 23066.

Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 602 to 578 (-4%).

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

Timeline

Gwynn, 1883 to 1948

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Gwynn post office opens
  3. 1899Post officeThe Grimstead post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Gwynn on the map, 1948 to 1964

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

Gwynn on the 1948 USGS mapGwynn on the 1964 USGS map1948Deltaville sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gwynn.

Famous people

Famous people close to Gwynn

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

See all →
Edmund RandolphAmerican attorney · b. 1753
Ralph NorthamGovernor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022 · b. 1959
Lawrence TaylorAmerican football player · b. 1959
Bruce HornsbyAmerican musician · b. 1954
Peyton RandolphPresident of the first Continental Congress · b. 1721
John Blair Jr.American politician, Founding Father and jurist · b. 1732
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Gwynn’s post office has been open since 1883.

Gwynn
1883–today
Grimstead
1899–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Grimstead
1cemetery inside Gwynn
Gwynns Island

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

Questions about Gwynn’s history

What year was Gwynn founded?

The Gwynn post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Gwynn?

One place: the Gwynn's Island Historic District (listed 2024).

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), 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.