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Mansion HouseMansion House · Photo: Eric Schena · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · McDowell

McDowell’s post office opened in 1846, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Mansion House, the Crab Run Lane Truss Bridge and the McDowell Presbyterian Church. Below: maps from 1944 on and old-book passages.

1846first post office
3on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How McDowell began

When was McDowell founded?

1846

The McDowell post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 94180 years
Founding year: the first McDowell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about McDowell’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 McDowell are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1846: 180 years of McDowell.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start McDowell’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how McDowell’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

McDowell, in brief

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

McDowell is an unincorporated community in Highland County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, McDowell had a population of 94. McDowell is 7.2 miles (11.6 km) southeast of Monterey, on U.S. Route 250. It is in the Bullpasture Valley near the mouth of Crab Run on the Bullpasture River. The community was named after James McDowell, governor of Virginia from 1843 to 1846. McDowell is the location of the May 8, 1862 Battle of McDowell during the American Civil War. The community has a post office with ZIP code 24458 that was established in 1828. The Crab Run Lane Truss Bridge, Mansion House, and McClung Farm Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.…

Its first post office opened in 1846.

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about McDowell in 1911

Passages that mention McDowell, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Swope's, but a new one was built at Williamsville, the older lapsing into total disuse. The Stony Run congregation on Jackson's River dates from 1814, its present church edifice being erected in 1858. The McDowell church dates from 1822, and the Pisgah church near the head of Jackson's River dates …
A history of Highland County, Virginia1911 · page 143Read the page →
Read the text

Swope's, but a new one was built at Williamsville, the older lapsing into total disuse. The Stony Run congregation on Jackson's River dates from 1814, its present church edifice being erected in 1858. The McDowell church dates from 1822, and the Pisgah church near the head of Jackson's River dates from 1831. A church was built in the Crabbottom in 1837.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

McDowell, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Sugar Tree Country Store2020Sugar Tree Country Store2016-05-19 12 48 24 View west along the Highland Turnpike (U.S. Route 250) near Mansion House Road (Virginia State Seco…20162016-05-19 12 48 24 View west along the Highland Turn…2016-05-19 12 46 18 View south down the Bullpasture River valley from the intersection of the Highland Turnpike (U.S. R…20162016-05-19 12 46 18 View south down the Bullpasture R…McDowell, Virginia National Map2014McDowell, Virginia National MapMap
On the map

McDowell on the map, 1944 to 1999

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

McDowell on the 1944 USGS mapMcDowell on the 1969 USGS mapMcDowell on the 1999 USGS map1944Mc Dowell 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 McDowell.

On the National Register

3 historic places in McDowell

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
2006
Mansion House
Mansion HouseCrab Run Lane Truss BridgeMcDowell Presbyterian Church
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Lane Patent Pony Truss Bridge1
Mansion HouseGreek Revival
Crab Run Lane Truss BridgeLane Patent Pony Truss Bridge
All 3 listings
McDowell Presbyterian ChurchBuilding · listed 2020

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

Famous people

Famous people close to McDowell

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

See all →
Woodrow Wilson28th President of the United States · b. 1856
Francis CollinsAmerican geneticist and director of the Nationa… · b. 1950
Kate SmithAmerican singer · b. 1907
William HainesAmerican actor, interior designer · b. 1900
Joseph W. FiferAmerican politician · b. 1840
Tony SchiavoneSports broadcaster · b. 1957

Questions about McDowell’s history

What year was McDowell founded?

The McDowell post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in McDowell?

Three places: the Mansion House (listed 2006), the Crab Run Lane Truss Bridge (2009) and the McDowell Presbyterian Church (2020).

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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.