Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Phenix

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Phenix

Phenix’s post office opened in 1909, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1940.

1909first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Phenix began

When was Phenix founded?

1909

The Phenix post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 340 in 19402020 census: 232117 years
Founding year: the first Phenix post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Phenix’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 Phenix are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1979. Watch Phenix change.Old housesHalf of Phenix’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Phenix’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Phenix’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
On the map

Phenix on the map, 1892 to 1979

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

Phenix on the 1892 USGS mapPhenix on the 1968 USGS mapPhenix on the 1979 USGS map1892Appomattox sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story so far

Phenix, in brief

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

Phenix is a town in Charlotte County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Phenix had a population of 232.

Its first post office opened in 1909. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 226 to 232 (+3%).

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

Timeline

Phenix, 1892 to 1923

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909Post officeThe Phenix post office opens
  5. 1923Born hereJames E. Lewis is born here
By decade

Phenix, decade by decade

Today1 recent
VAMap-doton-Phenix2005VAMap-doton-Phenix
People over time

Phenix, census by census

010020030019401960198020002020Peak: 340

Between 200 and 340 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Questions about Phenix’s history

What year was Phenix founded?

The Phenix post office opened in 1909, 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 (1), 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.