The story
Read it all →How Stanley came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Stanley.
Fort Philip Long and Graves Chapel and Cemetery are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Stanley
Stanley was first counted by the census in 1910, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Graves Chapel and Cemetery and the Koontz-Cave House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1910.
1910first census
2on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Quick answers
How Stanley began
When was Stanley founded?
1910
Stanley first appears in the census in 1910. Three smaller post offices, Marksville Station (1883), Sands (1883) and Stanleyton (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 218 in 19102020 census: 1,703116 years
How historic is Stanley?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Stanley’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stanley is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stanley’s overall grade.
Founding era1910, from the first census: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194015.9% of homes (±6.0) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register2 listings, 3 historic buildings, 14.7 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%
NewerOlder
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 Stanley’s 14.7 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points).
Founding year: the first census (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Stanley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Stanley’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Stanley’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Stanley, census by census
Lost a third of its people between 1920 and 1930, then grew 6-fold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Stanley’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Stanley’s post office has been open since 1911. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Marksville Station
Sands
Stanleyton
Stanley
18801950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Stanley, 1883 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1883Post officeThe Marksville Station post office opens
- 1883Post officeThe Marksville Station post office closes
- 1883Post officeThe Sands post office opens
- 1890Post officeThe Sands post office closes
- 1890Post officeThe Stanleyton post office opens
- 20th century
- 1911Post officeThe Stanleyton post office closes
- 1967
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 21st century
- 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 1,703
By decade
Stanley, decade by decade
Date unknown1 to date
Date?
2018
2018
2011On the map
Stanley on the map, 1967 to 1997
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Stanley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1967Stanley sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Stanley.
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 viewStanley VA (personal, 9-2006)
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Stanley’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
2 historic places in Stanley
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
2008
Graves Chapel and Cemetery
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Gothic Revival1
Late Victorian1
All 2 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Stanley
Nobody well known was born in Stanley itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
M
Maggie StiefvaterAmerican novelist · b. 1981
Questions about Stanley’s history
What year was Stanley founded?
The Stanley post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Stanley rank for history?
Stanley is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. 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 Stanley?
Two places: the Graves Chapel and Cemetery (listed 2008) and the Koontz-Cave House (2022).
How old are the homes in Stanley?
16% of Stanley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1972.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.