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History · Mount Crawford

Mount Crawford’s post office opened in 1827, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1941 on, and the census since 1870.

1827first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mount Crawford’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mount Crawford began

When was Mount Crawford founded?

1827

The Mount Crawford post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mount Stephens (1821), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 901 in 18702020 census: 439199 years
Founding year: the first Mount Crawford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mount Crawford’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1827: 199 years of Mount Crawford.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mount Crawford’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Crawford’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMount Crawford, Virginia. House in Mt. …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Mount Crawford, 1821 to 1982

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1821Post officeThe Mount Stephens post office opens
  3. 1823Post officeThe Mount Stephens post office closes
  4. 1827Post officeThe Mount Crawford post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1943In the archiveMount Crawford, Virginia. House in Mt. Crawford
  8. 1982In the archiveTurkey statue
The story

How Mount Crawford came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Crawford.

Read it all →

The Town of Mount Crawford was established in 1825 and Incorporated and chartered in 1895.

Historic Main Street, the area along US 11, has 42 single-family homes and five apartments. "Houses are on average over 100 years old, and the average year built is 1908. The oldest house was built in 1747. Twelve houses were built before the Civil War, and four of those built in the 1700s."

The property Contentment was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Mount Crawford, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s2 items
Mount Crawford, Virginia. House in Mt. Crawford1943Mount Crawford, Virginia. House in Mt. CrawfordMount Crawford, Virginia. Early morning1943Mount Crawford, Virginia. Early morning
1950s–1970snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1980s1 item
Turkey statue1982Turkey statue
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Green Valley Book Fair - rows of cars2023Green Valley Book Fair - rows of carsGreen Valley Book Fair - parking lot2023Green Valley Book Fair - parking lotGreen Valley Book Fair - building2023Green Valley Book Fair - buildingContentment near2016Contentment near
On the map

Mount Crawford on the map, 1941 to 2002

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

Mount Crawford on the 1941 USGS mapMount Crawford on the 1964 USGS mapMount Crawford on the 1972 USGS mapMount Crawford on the 1987 USGS mapMount Crawford on the 2002 USGS map1941Harrisonburg 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 Mount Crawford.

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.

Mount Crawford, Virginia. House in Mt. Crawford
Retake this viewMount Crawford, Virginia. House in Mt. Crawford, 1943

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Mount Crawford, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 901

Between 228 and 901 people in every census since 1870.

15 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Mount Crawford

Nobody well known was born in Mount Crawford 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
M
Maggie StiefvaterAmerican novelist · b. 1981
Dell CurryAmerican basketball player · b. 1964
Ralph SampsonAmerican basketball player · b. 1960
William HainesAmerican actor, interior designer · b. 1900
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Mount Crawford’s post office has been open since 1827. Another post office, Mount Stephens, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mount Stephens
1821–1823
Mount Crawford
1827–today
18201920today

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

Questions about Mount Crawford’s history

What year was Mount Crawford founded?

The Mount Crawford post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (5), the Library of Congress (2), 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.