Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Irvington

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
–Not graded
History · Irvington

Irvington’s post office opened in 1891, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Christ Church, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 149 buildings. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1960.

1891first post office
3on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Irvington began

When was Irvington founded?

1891

The Irvington post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Carter's Creek (1873) and Chesapeake (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 570 in 19602020 census: 474135 years
Founding year: the first Irvington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Irvington’s past

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

A historic districtThe Irvington takes in 149 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Irvington are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 673 in 2000; 474 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Irvington, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 listings protect 150 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmark
1
Christ Church
historic buildings protected
150
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Christ Church
SIELE (motor yacht)Irvington
BuildingsDistrictsStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Georgian1
Steel Hulled Diesel Yacht1
Colonial1
Mid-19th Century1
Greek Revival1
Gothic Revival1
★ Landmark
Christ ChurchGeorgian
SIELE (motor yacht)Steel Hulled Diesel Yacht
IrvingtonColonial

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

Help out

Start Irvington’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Irvington’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
People over time

Irvington, census by census

01002003004005006007001960198020002020Peak: 673

Peaked at 673 in 2000; 474 people lived here in 2020.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

The story

How Irvington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Irvington.

Read it all →

From 1871 until 1893, the town was called "Carter's Creek Wharf" or simply "Carter's Creek", since steamboats docked at the relatively deep water confluence of a tributary that had much earlier been called "Cossotomen Creek" and later "Carter's Creek" after early settler John Carter, Sr., the father of the powerful colonial era politician King Carter, who was the Virginia agent for the Northern Neck Proprietary. The town formally adopted the name "Irvington" to honor Baltimore native Captain Levin Irvington following a 1891 referendum, since mail had been often confused between this town and that of Center Cross in relatively nearby Essex County.

The original Chesapeake Academy, 1889–1907, was located in Irvington.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Irvington, 1873 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Carter's Creek post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Chesapeake post office opens
  4. 1888Post officeThe Chesapeake post office closes
  5. 1890Born hereEdwin Leland James is born here
  6. 1891Post officeThe Carter's Creek post office closes
  7. 1891Post officeThe Irvington post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1961LandmarkChrist Church named a National Historic Landmark
  11. 21st century
  12. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 673
By decade

Irvington, decade by decade

Today24 recent
WWW WE DSC020032014WWW WE DSC02003WWW WE DSC020022014WWW WE DSC02002WWW WE DSC020012014WWW WE DSC02001WWW WE DSC020002014WWW WE DSC02000WWW WE DSC019982014WWW WE DSC01998WWW WE DSC019972014WWW WE DSC01997WWW WE DSC019962014WWW WE DSC01996The Tides Inn docks - Rappahannock River, Virginia2013The Tides Inn docks - Rappahannock River, VirginiaCarter's Creek off the Rappahannock River, Irvington, Virginia - panoramio (1)2013Carter's Creek off the Rappahannock River, Irvington,…Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannock River2013Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannoc…Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannock River, Irvington, Virginia - panoramio (9)2013Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannoc…Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannock River, Irvington, Virginia - panoramio (8)2013Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannoc…Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannock River, Irvington, Virginia - panoramio (6)2013Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannoc…Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannock River, Irvington, Virginia - panoramio (4)2013Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannoc…Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannock River, Irvington, Virginia - panoramio (3)2013Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannoc…Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannock River, Irvington, Virginia - panoramio (2)2013Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannoc…Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannock River, Irvington, Virginia - panoramio (1)2013Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn, on the Rappahannoc…Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn - Rappahannock River, Virginia2013Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn - Rappahannock Rive…Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn - Rappahannock River, Virginia - panoramio (1)2013Carter's Creek from the Tides Inn - Rappahannock Rive…Carter's Creek, Rappahannock River2011Carter's Creek, Rappahannock RiverCarter's Creek and Weems off the Rappahannock River, Virginia2011Carter's Creek and Weems off the Rappahannock River, …Carter's Creek and Weems off the Rappahannock River, Virginia - panoramio (1)2011Carter's Creek and Weems off the Rappahannock River, …Tides Inn, Carter's Creek2006Tides Inn, Carter's CreekTides Inn, Carter's Creek, Irvington, Virginia - panoramio - David Broad2006Tides Inn, Carter's Creek, Irvington, Virginia - pano…
On the map

Irvington on the map, 1916 to 1979

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

Irvington on the 1916 USGS mapIrvington on the 1949 USGS mapIrvington on the 1968 USGS mapIrvington on the 1979 USGS map1916Kilmarnock 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 Irvington.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Irvington’s post office has been open since 1891. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Carter's Creek
1873–1891
Chesapeake
1883–1888
Irvington
1891–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
West Irvington
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Irvington
IrvingtonIrvington

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

Questions about Irvington’s history

What year was Irvington founded?

The Irvington post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Irvington?

Three places: the Christ Church (listed 1966), the SIELE (motor yacht) (1998) and the Irvington (2000).

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 Wikimedia Commons (24), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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) 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.