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Downtown Hopewell Historic District (Boundary Increase)Downtown Hopewell Historic District (Boundary Increase) · Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
B−History
History · Hopewell

Hopewell dates to 1914, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #91 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

9 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 154 buildings between them. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1920.

1914founded
9on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
17old photos & papers
14famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hopewell’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hopewell began

When was Hopewell founded?

1914

Hopewell dates its founding to 1914 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 1,397 in 19202020 census: 23,033112 years

How historic is Hopewell?

B−

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1797.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hopewell’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hopewell is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #91 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hopewell’s overall grade.
Founding era1914, from Wikidata: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194014.0% of homes (±2.9) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register9 listings, 162 historic buildings, 70.6 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 49%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 64%

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 Hopewell’s 70.6 sits above most of its state (70% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 162 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1914.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Hopewell’s past

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

A historic districtThe City Point Historic District takes in 85 historic buildings.On the map since 18947 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1994. Watch Hopewell change.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Hopewell, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A town in old photos17 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

9 listings protect 162 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
9
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
162
each building in a district counts
first listed
1969
Appomattox Manor
Appomattox Manor, built 1751Weston ManorEvergreenCity Point National Cemetery, built 1866Hopewell Municipal BuildingBeacon TheatreHopewell High School ComplexDowntown Hopewell Historic DistrictCity Point Historic DistrictDowntown Hopewell Historic District (Boundary Increase and Decrease)_
BuildingsDistrictsSites

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival3
Virginian Georgian1
Late Georgian1
Georgian1
Early Federal1
Classical Revival1
Appomattox ManorBuilt 1751
Weston ManorVirginian Georgian
EvergreenGeorgian
City Point National CemeteryColonial Revival · Built 1866
Hopewell Municipal BuildingClassical Revival
Beacon TheatreColonial Revival
Hopewell High School ComplexInternational Style
Downtown Hopewell Historic DistrictDistrict
All 10 listings
City Point Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2020Downtown Hopewell Historic District (Boundary Increase and Decrease)_District · listed 2015

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

On the map

Hopewell on the map, 1894 to 1994

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

Hopewell on the 1894 USGS mapHopewell on the 1943 USGS mapHopewell on the 1952 USGS mapHopewell on the 1969 USGS mapHopewell on the 1974 USGS mapHopewell on the 1981 USGS mapHopewell on the 1994 USGS map1894Bermuda Hundred 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 Hopewell.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, City Point, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
ArlingtonCedar LevelCity PointFive ForksHighland ParkKenwood
Gone or out of use
Appomattox ManorbuildingChurch of the Nazarenechurch
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hopewell
AppomattoxCity Point National

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

The story

How Hopewell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hopewell.

Read it all →

The city was founded to take advantage of its site overlooking the James and Appomattox Rivers. City Point, the oldest part of Hopewell, was established in 1613 by Sir Thomas Dale. It was first known as "Bermuda City". (At this time, Bermuda, the Atlantic archipelago, was considered part of the Colony of Virginia and appeared on its maps.) The name soon changed to Charles City. In 1619, Samuel Sharpe and Samuel Jordan represented Charles City at the first meeting of the House of Burgesses. "Charles City Point" was in Charles City Shire when the first eight shires were established in the Colony of Virginia in 1634. Charles City Shire soon became known as Charles City County in 1643.

ChaptersCity PointHopewell Farm20th-century populace1935 bus tragedyUrban renewalToxic waste dumping groundRecent history

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hopewell, 1751 to 2002

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1751BuiltAppomattox Manor is built
  3. 1797Post officeThe City Point post office opens
  4. 19th century
  5. 1861In the archiveBroadway Landing, Virginia. Pontoon bridge across the Appomattox River LOC cwpb.02212
  6. 1866BuiltCity Point National Cemetery is built
  7. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1914
    FoundingHopewell is established
  10. 1917Born hereAbraham Charnes is born here
  11. 1919Born hereJoel Broyhill is born here
  12. 1923Post officeThe City Point post office closes
  13. 1961Born hereSam Bass is born here
  14. 21st century
  15. 2002Born hereTreVeyon Henderson is born here
By decade

Hopewell, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s17 items
Broadway Landing, Virginia. Pontoon bridge across the Appomattox River LOC cwpb.022121861Broadway Landing, Virginia. Pontoon bridge across the…City Point R.R. Depot, looking toward Petersburg1861City Point R.R. Depot, looking toward PetersburgView at City Point headquarters, hospital, with old school houses, barns &c1861View at City Point headquarters, hospital, with old s…The Landing at City Point, Virginia1861The Landing at City Point, VirginiaView of transports, barges, etc., City Point, Virginia1861View of transports, barges, etc., City Point, VirginiaDepot of the Commissary, Cedar Level, Virginia1861Depot of the Commissary, Cedar Level, VirginiaView of City Point, Virginia, showing barges, transports, etc1861View of City Point, Virginia, showing barges, transpo…Sanitary commission barge at the docks, City Point, Virginia1861Sanitary commission barge at the docks, City Point, V…Soldier's skeletons City Point, Va. /1861Soldier's skeletons City Point, Va. /City Point, Va1861City Point, VaWharves at City Point, Va., Lincoln's car in foreground1861Wharves at City Point, Va., Lincoln's car in foregrou…Docks in City Point, Va1861Docks in City Point, VaRailroad engine at City Point, Va1861Railroad engine at City Point, VaCity Point, R.R1861City Point, R.RCity Point, Va., view on the docks, after explosion of the ordnance barges1861City Point, Va., view on the docks, after explosion o…Scene at City Point, Va1861Scene at City Point, Va[Mitchell's Plantation, Hopewell, Virginia]1863[Mitchell's Plantation, Hopewell, Virginia]
Every building

Hopewell, building by building, 1921–1927

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Hopewell fire insurance map, 1921, sheet 11921Sheet 1 of 12
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Broadway Landing, Virginia. Pontoon bridge across the Appomattox River LOC cwpb.02212
Retake this viewBroadway Landing, Virginia. Pontoon bridge across the Appomattox River LOC cwpb.02212, 1861

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hopewell’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Hopewell, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 23,471

Between 1,397 and 23,471 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

14 famous people were born in Hopewell

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

See all →
Joel BroyhillVirginia politician · b. 1919
A
Abraham CharnesAmerican mathematician and economist · b. 1917
Sam BassArtist · b. 1961
TreVeyon HendersonAmerican football player · b. 2002
Rebecca Beach SmithUnited States federal judge · b. 1949
Matt GarstkaAmerican drummer · b. 1989
Help out

Finish Hopewell’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBroadway Landing, Virginia. Pontoon bri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

EnonIts storyD−

Questions about Hopewell’s history

What year was Hopewell founded?

In 1914, according to Wikidata. Hopewell’s post office opened in 1797, and the census of 1920 counted 1,397 people here.

How does Hopewell rank for history?

Hopewell is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #91 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 Hopewell?

9 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Appomattox Manor (listed 1969, the first), 4 historic districts with 154 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 162 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Hopewell?

14% of Hopewell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1972.

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), the Library of Congress (15), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.