4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 125 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.
From Mount Jackson’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Mount Jackson began
When was Mount Jackson founded?
1826
The Mount Jackson post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Shenandoah Caverns (1926), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 560 in 18602020 census: 1,961200 years
How historic is Mount Jackson?
A
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Mount Jackson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mount Jackson’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Jackson is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Jackson’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 Mount Jackson’s 645 sits above most of its state (92% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 129 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.7 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 Mount Jackson’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Mount Jackson, census by census
Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1870, then grew 7-fold.
16 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Jackson’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Mount Jackson, building by building, 1886–1930
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1739, attracted by rich valley land and abundant water supply, Benjamin Allen purchased a 400-acre tract at the confluence of Mill Creek and the North Fork of the Shenandoah River and established a grist mill by 1746. Soon other settlers and small mills followed. The village was known as Mount Pleasant. On January 28, 1826, an act of the General Assembly of Virginia changed the name of the village in honor of General Andrew Jackson, the hero of the War of 1812.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Jackson. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1942Mt Jackson 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 Jackson.
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.
Retake this viewThe war in the Shenandoah Valley - burning the bridge near Mount Jackson, by order of the Rebel General, 1862
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mount Jackson’s page.
The Mount Jackson post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mount Jackson rank for history?
Mount Jackson is more historic than 91% 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 Mount Jackson?
4 listings: 2 buildings, 1 historic district, the Mount Jackson Historic District, with 125 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 129 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Mount Jackson?
19% of Mount Jackson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1862
1862
1908
1908
2020
2017
2005
2005
