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B+History
History · Nokesville

Nokesville’s post office opened in 1865, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: maps from 1944 on and the census since 2000.

1865first post office
2on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Nokesville began

When was Nokesville founded?

1865

The Nokesville post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,179 in 20002020 census: 1,619161 years

How historic is Nokesville?

B+

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Nokesville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Nokesville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nokesville is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nokesville’s overall grade.
Founding era1865, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194026.3% of homes (±11.6) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register2 listings, 6 historic buildings, 48.9 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 71%
NewerOlder

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 Nokesville’s 48.9 sits above most of its state (66% 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 range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.6 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 Nokesville’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 Nokesville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Nokesville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Nokesville’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
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Nokesville’s post office has been open since 1865.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Clover HillColonial AcresColvin FarmsKing Richard Estates
Gone or out of use
Valley View Airportairport
1cemetery inside Nokesville
Valley View

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

The story

How Nokesville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Nokesville.

Read it all →

Nokesville was the center of a farming community with cattle and dairy farms; it became a town and intermediate stop on the Orange & Alexandria Railway in 1865. In the late 19th century–early 20th century, Nokesville was the location of a religious movement called the German Baptist Brethren, which became known as the Church of the Brethren. In the 1950s, it was cut off from passenger trains and was a rural community today.

ChaptersAmerican Civil War

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Nokesville, 1865 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865Post officeThe Nokesville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1949Born hereDavid Hogan is born here
By decade

Nokesville, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Fiber optic cable marker; Nokesville, VA; 2014-04-132014Fiber optic cable marker; Nokesville, VA; 2014-04-13Fiber optic cable marker, with surroundings; Nokesville, VA; 2014-04-132014Fiber optic cable marker, with surroundings; Nokesvil…Farm on Fleetwood Drive; Nokesville, VA; 2014-04-132014Farm on Fleetwood Drive; Nokesville, VA; 2014-04-13Cows on farm on Fleetwood Drive; Nokesville, VA; 2014-04-132014Cows on farm on Fleetwood Drive; Nokesville, VA; 2014…Aden Road, looking south past Kettle Run bridge; Nokesville, VA; 2014-04-132014Aden Road, looking south past Kettle Run bridge; Noke…Aden Grocery store; Nokesville, VA; 2014-04-132014Aden Grocery store; Nokesville, VA; 2014-04-13Eastern Box Elder Bug - Boisea trivittata2011Eastern Box Elder Bug - Boisea trivittataNokesville, Virginia2010Nokesville, VirginiaNokesville, Virginia - panoramio (1)2010Nokesville, Virginia - panoramio (1)Nokesville, VA 20181, USA2010Nokesville, VA 20181, USANokesville Elementary School2010Nokesville Elementary SchoolVAMap-doton-Nokesville2005VAMap-doton-Nokesville
On the map

Nokesville on the map, 1944 to 1994

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

Nokesville on the 1944 USGS mapNokesville on the 1953 USGS mapNokesville on the 1966 USGS mapNokesville on the 1971 USGS mapNokesville on the 1983 USGS mapNokesville on the 1994 USGS map1944Nokesville sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Nokesville.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Nokesville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Nokesville Truss Bridge
Nokesville Truss BridgePark Gate
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Single Span Through Pratt Truss1
Tidewater1
Postmedieval English1
Southern Colonial1
Nokesville Truss BridgeSingle Span Through Pratt Truss
Park GateTidewater
Pilgrim's RestPostmedieval English

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

People over time

Nokesville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80020002020Peak: 1,619

Between 1,179 and 1,619 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Questions about Nokesville’s history

What year was Nokesville founded?

The Nokesville post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Nokesville rank for history?

Nokesville is more historic than 71% 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 Nokesville?

2 listings: 1 building, 1 historic district, the Pilgrim's Rest, with 5 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 6 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Nokesville?

26% of Nokesville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.6 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1971.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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) 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.