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CHistory
History · Hollins

Hollins’ post office opened in 1885, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #136 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

Most of Hollins was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listings are the Hollins College Quadrangle, the Old Tombstone and the Harshbarger House. Below: maps from 1929 on.

1885first post office
3on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hollins began

When was Hollins founded?

1885

The Hollins post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Botetourt Springs (1827), Green Ridge (1878) and Hollins College (1934), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 15,574141 years

How historic is Hollins?

C

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Hollins’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hollins is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #136 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hollins’ overall grade.
Founding era1885, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.1% of homes (±0.9) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register3 listings, 7 historic buildings, 4.1 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 46%

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 Hollins’ 4.1 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 Hollins’ past

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

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hollins, and 43 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hollins are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Hollins had its own post office from 1885 to 1960. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Botetourt Springs
1827–1885
Green Ridge
1878–1878
Hollins
1885–1960
Hollins College
1934–1954
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Alpine HillsArdmoreBelle HavenBotetourt SpringsBoxley HillBrooklawnBrooksideBryant HeightsBuckland ForestBurlington EstatesBurlington HeightsCaptains GroveDillard CourtDwight HillsGreenfieldHedgelawn GardensHollins CourtLemontonMalvern HillsMeadewoodMountain ViewNorth Burlington HeightsNorth HillsNorthview Mobile Home Park
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hollins
CockeObenchainRichard CarverTombstone

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

Help out

Start Hollins’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hollins’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

Hollins, in brief

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

Hollins is a census-designated place (CDP) in Botetourt and Roanoke County, Virginia, United States. Hollins covers much of the area known locally as "North County". The population was 15,574 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Roanoke metropolitan area. The area is also the home of Hollins University in addition to four properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Black Horse Tavern-Bellvue Hotel and Office, Harshbarger House, the Hollins College Quadrangle, and Old Tombstone.

Its first post office opened in 1885. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 14,673 to 15,574 (+6%).

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

Timeline

Hollins, 1827 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1827Post officeThe Botetourt Springs post office opens
  3. 1842BuiltHollins College Quadrangle is built
  4. 1878Post officeThe Green Ridge post office opens
  5. 1878Post officeThe Green Ridge post office closes
  6. 1885Post officeThe Botetourt Springs post office closes
  7. 1885Post officeThe Hollins post office opens
  8. 1890Born hereMemphis Tennessee Garrison is born here
  9. 20th century
  10. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1960Post officeThe Hollins post office closes
By decade

Hollins, decade by decade

Today2 recent
2017-06-13 15 58 13 View north along Virginia State Route 115 (Plantation Road) at Hollins Road (Virginia State Seconda…20172017-06-13 15 58 13 View north along Virginia State R…2017-06-13 15 02 56 View north along Virginia State Route 117 (Peters Creek Road) at Virginia State Route 118 (Airport …20172017-06-13 15 02 56 View north along Virginia State R…
On the map

Hollins on the map, 1929 to 1984

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

Hollins on the 1929 USGS mapHollins on the 1933 USGS mapHollins on the 1962 USGS mapHollins on the 1977 USGS mapHollins on the 1984 USGS map1929Roanoke 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 Hollins.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Hollins

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Hollins College Quadrangle
Hollins College Quadrangle, built 1842Old TombstoneHarshbarger House
BuildingsObjects

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Neo-Classical1
Federal1
Single-room Plan1
Hollins College QuadrangleGreek Revival · Built 1842
Old TombstoneObject
Harshbarger HouseFederal

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Roanoke60 historic placesA−CloverdaleIts storyD

Questions about Hollins’ history

What year was Hollins founded?

The Hollins post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Hollins rank for history?

Hollins is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #136 of 253 in Virginia. 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 Hollins?

Three places: the Hollins College Quadrangle (listed 1974), the Old Tombstone (1980) and the Harshbarger House (1992).

How old are the homes in Hollins?

1% of Hollins’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1977.

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 (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.