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History · Selma

Selma’s post office opened in 1855, and 48% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1945 on.

1855first post office
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Selma began

When was Selma founded?

1855

The Selma post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 357171 years
Founding year: the first Selma post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Selma’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 Selma are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Selma’s homes were built before 1941.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Selma’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Selma’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 Selma came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Selma.

Read it all →

Oakland Grove Presbyterian Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Selma, decade by decade

Today2 recent
2017-06-11 12 03 44 View east along U.S. Route 60 Business and south along U.S. Route 220 Business (Ridgeway Street) at…20172017-06-11 12 03 44 View east along U.S. Route 60 Bus…VAMap-doton-Selma2005VAMap-doton-Selma
On the map

Selma on the map, 1945 to 1986

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

Selma on the 1945 USGS mapSelma on the 1962 USGS mapSelma on the 1979 USGS mapSelma on the 1986 USGS map1945Clifton Forge 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 Selma.

Famous people

Famous people close to Selma

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

See all →
Pearl S. BuckChinese women Nobel Prize winner, author, teach… · b. 1892
Katherine JohnsonAfrican-American mathematician · b. 1918
Pat RobertsonAmerican media mogul and minister · b. 1930
C
Cy TwomblyAmerican painter, sculptor and photographer · b. 1928
Hilary HahnAmerican classical violinist · b. 1979
S
Sally MannAmerican photographer · b. 1951
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Low Moor1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClifton Forge4 historic placesA+

Questions about Selma’s history

What year was Selma founded?

The Selma post office opened in 1855, 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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.