Founding year: the first McGaheysville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives McGaheysville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McGaheysville is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of McGaheysville’s overall grade.
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 McGaheysville’s 45.2 sits above most of its state (65% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±13.9 points). 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 McGaheysville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The earliest records mentioning a settlement in the area date to 1716, when Governor Alexander Spotswood ventured west of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition. The first European-American to settle permanently in the area was Adam Miller (Mueller) (1703–1783), a native of Germany who arrived in 1726 and made his homestead near present-day Elkton. Later, several German and Dutch immigrants moved into the area. and a village began to grow up around the Upper Peaked Mountain Church, which had been established in the vicinity. Records from 1758 reveal that a Lutheran preacher, Reverend Lawrence Wartman, originally from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania was preaching in the McGaheysville area who had likely arrived the year before in 1757. He is widely believed to have been the first Lutheran preacher who settled in Rockingham County. In 1758 he was invol…
River Bank, near McGaheysville, should receive special notice, in addition to other things, for the mere fact of its existence, since it has probably been washed away of tener than any other place in the county. The bridge built at River Bank soon after the war was swept away in 1870. In 1873 a mill was erected and plans perfected for the rebuilding of the bridge. The leaders of River Bank industry at that time were J. H. Larkins, W. B. Yancey, R. A. Gibbons, and Henry
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of McGaheysville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1937Elkton 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 McGaheysville.
On the National Register
1 historic place in McGaheysville
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The McGaheysville post office opened in 1812, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does McGaheysville rank for history?
McGaheysville is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. 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 McGaheysville?
One place: the Cave Hill Farm (listed 2011).
How old are the homes in McGaheysville?
18% of McGaheysville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.9 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 2002.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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