Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Saluda

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 · Saluda

Saluda’s post office opened in 1846, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 93 buildings. Below: maps from 1917 on.

1846first post office
3on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Saluda began

When was Saluda founded?

1846

The Saluda post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 627180 years
Founding year: the first Saluda post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Saluda’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 Saluda are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Saluda Historic District takes in 93 historic buildings.On the map since 19175 editions of the USGS map, 1917 to 1986. Watch Saluda change.Deep rootsA post office since 1846: 180 years of Saluda.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Saluda’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Saluda’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 National Register

3 listings protect 100 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
100
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Middlesex County Courthouse
Middlesex County CourthouseSaluda Historic DistrictSt. Clare Walker School
BuildingsDistricts
Middlesex County CourthouseBuilding
All 3 listings
Saluda Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2020St. Clare Walker SchoolBuilding · listed 2025

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

On the map

Saluda on the map, 1917 to 1986

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

Saluda on the 1917 USGS mapSaluda on the 1949 USGS mapSaluda on the 1965 USGS mapSaluda on the 1973 USGS mapSaluda on the 1986 USGS map1917Urbanna 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 Saluda.

The story

How Saluda came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Saluda.

Read it all →

The Middlesex County Courthouse was built between 1850 and 1874 by architects William R. Jones and John P. Hill, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A new courthouse complex was built in the 2003–2004 time-frame, but the opening was stalled due to various construction problems, leading to a legal dispute between the County board and the contractor. It was eventually opened in 2007.

An older notable building is the Christ Church. The highly decorated Marine, veteran of the Banana Wars, World War II, and the Korean War, Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller was raised in Saluda. He died in Hampton, Virginia in 1971, and was buried in historic Christ Church's Cemetery near Saluda.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Saluda, decade by decade

Today7 recent
SaludaVApostoffice2020SaludaVApostofficeSaluda VA2017Saluda VASaluda-Courthouse2012Saluda-CourthouseUrbanna Creek, Virginia2011Urbanna Creek, VirginiaFront Portico2008Front PorticoLighthouse on Urbanna Creek, Virginia2005Lighthouse on Urbanna Creek, VirginiaAll Saints Anglican Church2005All Saints Anglican Church
Every building

Saluda, building by building, 1921

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 sheet.

Saluda fire insurance map, 1921, sheet 11921Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Questions about Saluda’s history

What year was Saluda founded?

The Saluda post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Saluda?

Three places: the Middlesex County Courthouse (listed 1978), the Saluda Historic District (2020) and the St. Clare Walker School (2025).

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 (7), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.