Oak Ridge Railroad Overpass · Photo: Rob Tucher, Photographer · Public domain

–Not graded

History · Shipman

Shipman’s post office opened in 1907, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 109 buildings. Below: maps from 1969 on.

1907first post office

3on the National Register

29%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How Shipman began

When was Shipman founded?

1907

The Shipman post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Montreal (1867) and Oak Ridge (1900), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 492119 years

Founding year: the first Shipman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Shipman’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 Shipman are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Shipman Historic District takes in 109 historic buildings.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Shipman.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Shipman’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shipman’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

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On the National Register

3 listings protect 111 historic buildings

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

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

111

each building in a district counts

first listed

1978

Oak Ridge Railroad Overpass

BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Oak Ridge Railroad OverpassStructure

All 3 listings

Ryan Hall Elementary SchoolBuilding · listed 2022 Shipman Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2025

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Shipman’s post office has been open since 1907. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Montreal

1867–1900

Oak Ridge

1900–1943

Shipman

1907–today

18601940today

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

The story so far

Shipman, in brief

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

Shipman is a census-designated place (CDP) in Nelson County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Shipman had a population of 492. Bon Aire and the Oak Ridge Railroad Overpass are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Its first post office opened in 1907. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 507 to 492 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Shipman, 1867 to 1969

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

19th century
1867Post officeThe Montreal post office opens
20th century
1900Post officeThe Montreal post office closes
1900Post officeThe Oak Ridge post office opens
1907Post officeThe Shipman post office opens
1943Post officeThe Oak Ridge post office closes
1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

Shipman, decade by decade

Today1 recent

2016-05-27 10 34 30 View west along James River Road (Virginia State Route 56) just east of

20162016-05-27 10 34 30 View west along James River Road …

On the map

Shipman on the map, 1969 to 1987

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

1969Shipman 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 Shipman.

Famous people

Famous people close to Shipman

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

See all →

Rob LoweAmerican actor · b. 1964

Camila MendesAmerican actress · b. 1994

Meriwether LewisAmerican explorer · b. 1774

Richard BurrUnited States Senator from North Carolina from … · b. 1955

Alexander VandegriftUnited States Marine Corps Medal of Honor recip… · b. 1887

Billy CampbellAmerican actor · b. 1959

Questions about Shipman’s history

What year was Shipman founded?

The Shipman post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Shipman?

Three places: the Oak Ridge Railroad Overpass (listed 1978), the Ryan Hall Elementary School (2022) and the Shipman Historic District (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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.

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