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History · La Crosse

La Crosse’s post office opened in 1890, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the La Crosse Hotel. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1910.

1890first post office
1on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How La Crosse began, and where its name came from

When was La Crosse founded?

1890

The La Crosse post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lacrosse (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 281 in 19102020 census: 614136 years

How did La Crosse get its name?

La Crosse’s name is derived from the fact that it was a place where railroads once crossed, and there is still a caboose in the center of the town.

Founding year: the first La Crosse post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about La Crosse’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of La Crosse are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of La Crosse’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start La Crosse’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how La Crosse’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

How La Crosse came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of La Crosse.

Read it all →

Before 1890, La Crosse was known as Piney Pond. The La Crosse Hotel and O.H.P. Tanner House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. La Crosse was a stop on the Atlantic and Danville Railway. The Virginia General Assembly chartered the People's Warehouse Company in 1902 in La Crosse. The company was formed for selling tobacco. Today, the Tobacco Heritage Trail runs through the town on the old Atlantic and Danville Railway.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

La Crosse, 1890 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe La Crosse post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Lacrosse post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1949Post officeThe Lacrosse post office closes
  6. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

La Crosse, decade by decade

Today8 recent
La Crosse, Virginia Skyline2020La Crosse, Virginia SkylineAntique Caboose at2020Antique Caboose atMain north of Seaboard2018Main north of SeaboardLa Crosse town hall, Main near Seaboard2018La Crosse town hall, Main near SeaboardLa Crosse post office 239502018La Crosse post office 23950O. H. P. TANNER HOUSE, MECKLENBURG COUNTY, VA2007O. H. P. TANNER HOUSE, MECKLENBURG COUNTY, VALACROSSE HOTEL, MECKLENBURG COUNTY, VA2007LACROSSE HOTEL, MECKLENBURG COUNTY, VAVAMap-doton-LaCrosse2005VAMap-doton-LaCrosse
On the map

La Crosse on the map, 1968 to 1981

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

La Crosse on the 1968 USGS mapLa Crosse on the 1981 USGS map1968La Crosse 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 La Crosse.

On the National Register

1 historic place in La Crosse

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2008
La Crosse Hotel
La Crosse Hotel
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1
La Crosse HotelColonial Revival

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

People over time

La Crosse, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 734

Between 281 and 734 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

La Crosse’s post office has been open since 1890. Another post office, Lacrosse, opened and closed inside today’s town.

La Crosse
1890–today
Lacrosse
1894–1949
18901960today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

South Hill4 historic placesB+

Questions about La Crosse’s history

What year was La Crosse founded?

The La Crosse post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in La Crosse?

One place: the La Crosse Hotel (listed 2008).

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 (8), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.