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History · Sanford

Sanford’s post office opened in 1885, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Pocomoke Farm. Below: maps from 1942 on.

1885first post office
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Sanford began

When was Sanford founded?

1885

The Sanford post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Grotons (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 168141 years
Founding year: the first Sanford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sanford’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 Sanford are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Sanford, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Sanford’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sanford’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sanford’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

Lost post offices and old corners

Sanford’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Grotons, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sanford
1885–today
Grotons
1897–1953
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Flag Pond LandingGrotonsShad Landing

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

The story so far

Sanford, in brief

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

Sanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in 2010. Per the 2020 census, the population was 168. Pocomoke Farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Its first post office opened in 1885. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 212 to 168 (-21%).

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

Timeline

Sanford, 1885 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Sanford post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Grotons post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1953Post officeThe Grotons post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Sanford on the map, 1942 to 1968

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

Sanford on the 1942 USGS mapSanford on the 1968 USGS map1942Saxis sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Sanford

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Pocomoke Farm
Pocomoke Farm
Sites
Pocomoke FarmSite

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Sanford

Nobody well known was born in Sanford itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Hugh Latimer DrydenAmerican aeronautical scientist and civil serva… · b. 1898
J. Millard TawesAmerican politician · b. 1894
Curley ByrdAmerican football player and coach, baseball pl… · b. 1889
William Wilson QuinnU.S. Army officer (1907-2000), recipient of the… · b. 1907
D
David E. GarlandAmerican academic administrator · b. 1947
M
Marshall CropperAmerican-football player · b. 1944

Questions about Sanford’s history

What year was Sanford founded?

The Sanford post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Sanford?

One place: the Pocomoke Farm (listed 2007).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.