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History · Saxis

Saxis’ post office opened in 1896, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 192 buildings. Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1960.

1896first post office
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Saxis began

When was Saxis founded?

1896

The Saxis post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sykes (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 577 in 19602020 census: 172130 years
Founding year: the first Saxis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Saxis’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Saxis Island Historic District takes in 192 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Saxis are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Saxis’ homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 192 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
192
each building in a district counts
first listed
2017
Saxis Island Historic District
Saxis Island Historic District
Districts
All 1 listings
Saxis Island Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2017

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

Help out

Start Saxis’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Saxis’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
The story

How Saxis came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Saxis.

Read it all →

Saxis Island juts into Pocomoke Sound and is separated from the rest of Accomack County by Freeschool Marsh. The community that exists on the island began as a single farmstead. The community grew in size throughout the 1800s and was incorporated in 1959.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Saxis, 1884 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Sykes post office opens
  3. 1896Post officeThe Sykes post office closes
  4. 1896Post officeThe Saxis post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1923Born hereMilt Drewer is born here
  7. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Saxis, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Sunset at Saxis Island2022Sunset at Saxis IslandSunrise in the marsh2021Sunrise in the marshBeach at Saxis Island Virginia2020Beach at Saxis Island Virginia
On the map

Saxis on the map, 1942 to 1968

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

Saxis on the 1942 USGS mapSaxis 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 Saxis.

People over time

Saxis, census by census

01002003004005006001960198020002020Peak: 577

Between 172 and 577 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Saxis’s post office has been open since 1896. Another post office, Sykes, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sykes
1884–1896
Saxis
1896–today
18801950today
1cemetery inside Saxis
Baptist Churchyard

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

Questions about Saxis’ history

What year was Saxis founded?

The Saxis post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Saxis?

One place: the Saxis Island Historic District (listed 2017).

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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.