2 of Spotsylvania Courthouse’s places are on the National Register
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #99 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Most of Spotsylvania Courthouse was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1942 on.
What drives Spotsylvania Courthouse’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spotsylvania Courthouse is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #99 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spotsylvania Courthouse’s overall grade.
Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Spotsylvania Courthouse’s 34.8 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 25 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Spotsylvania Courthouse’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The story so far
Spotsylvania Courthouse, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Spotsylvania Courthouse yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Spotsylvania Courthouse is a census-designated place (CDP) and the county seat of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Fredericksburg. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place (CDP), the population was 5,610 at the 2020 census. During the American Civil War, the crossroads community became a Union objective during the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, fought May 8–21, 1864. The battle, which ended in stalemate, included a brutal 20-hour struggle over a section of the Confederate defenses that became known as the "Bloody Angle". The site of the Bloody Angle and other portions of the battlefield are preserved as part of …
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,239 to 5,610 (+32%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Spotsylvania Courthouse, 1800 to 1942
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spotsylvania Courthouse. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1942Spotsylvania 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 Spotsylvania Courthouse.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewCash Corner - Spottsylvania (i.e. Spotsylvania) C.H. opposite hotel, (Virginia), 1861
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Spotsylvania Courthouse’s page.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Spotsylvania Courthouse, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Spotsylvania Courthouse
1800–1892
Spotsylvania
1892–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Spotsylvania
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Spotsylvania Courthouse
ConfederateZion Methodist Church
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Spotsylvania Courthouse’s history
How does Spotsylvania Courthouse rank for history?
Spotsylvania Courthouse is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #99 of 253 in Virginia. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Spotsylvania Courthouse?
Two places: the Spotsylvania Court House Historic District (listed 1983) and the Kenmore (1993).
How old are the homes in Spotsylvania Courthouse?
2% of Spotsylvania Courthouse’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 2003.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
1864
2013
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2013
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