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Sussex County Courthouse Historic DistrictSussex County Courthouse Historic District · Photo: Calvin Beale · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Sussex

Sussex’s post office opened in 1896, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Sussex was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1919 on.

1896first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sussex’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sussex began

When was Sussex founded?

1896

The Sussex post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sussex Courthouse (1799), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 181130 years
Founding year: the first Sussex post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sussex’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19194 editions of the USGS map, 1919 to 1990. Watch Sussex change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sussex’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewWindsor Farm, State Route 602: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Sussex on the map, 1919 to 1990

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

Sussex on the 1919 USGS mapSussex on the 1951 USGS mapSussex on the 1967 USGS mapSussex on the 1990 USGS map1919Jarratt 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 Sussex.

The story so far

Sussex, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1896. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 256 to 181 (-29%).

Timeline

Sussex, 1799 to 1919

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1799Post officeThe Sussex Courthouse post office opens
  3. 19th century
  4. 1896Post officeThe Sussex Courthouse post office closes
  5. 1896Post officeThe Sussex post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1919On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Sussex, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Windsor Farm, State Route 602Date?Windsor Farm, State Route 602
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.

Windsor Farm, State Route 602
Retake this viewWindsor Farm, State Route 602

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sussex’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 4 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
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Sussex County Courthouse Historic District
Sussex County Courthouse Historic District
Districts
Sussex County Courthouse Historic DistrictDistrict

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 and burying grounds

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

Sussex Courthouse
1799–1896
Sussex
1896–today
17901910today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sussex
New HopeReidville

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

Questions about Sussex’s history

What year was Sussex founded?

The Sussex 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 Sussex?

One place: the Sussex County Courthouse Historic District (listed 1973).

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 the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.