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History · The Plains

The Plains’ post office opened in 1831, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Plains Historic District. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1920.

1831first post office
1on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From The Plains’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How The Plains began

When was The Plains founded?

1831

The The Plains post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 275 in 19202020 census: 245195 years
Founding year: the first The Plains post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about The Plains’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 484 in 1960; 245 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1831: 195 years of The Plains.Old housesHalf of The Plains’ homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start The Plains’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view"Belvoir," Fairfax Harrison house, Star…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

The Plains, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 484

Peaked at 484 in 1960; 245 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on The Plains’ Wikipedia page.

Timeline

The Plains, 1831 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1831Post officeThe The Plains post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1928In the archive"Belvoir," Fairfax Harrison house, Star Route 709, The Plains, Fauquier County, Virginia.…
  5. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 484
  7. 1980In the archiveHorse Country in
The story

How The Plains came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of The Plains.

Read it all →

In the 18th century, the Colony of Virginia progressively expanded westward and allowed Europeans to begin to construct settlements in the area. Before and during the Civil War, the area was called "White Plains" on maps and a Post Office was named "The Plains" in 1831. A two-story house, with a blacksmith's shop above, was built in 1852. During the Civil War, John S. Mosby and his Mosby's Raiders used The Plains as part of the raiding area they controlled. The Plains was incorporated as a town in 1910.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

The Plains, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
"Belvoir," Fairfax Harrison house, Star Route 709, The Plains, Fauquier County, Virginia. Temple1928"Belvoir," Fairfax Harrison house, Star Route 709, Th…
1930s–1970snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1980s1 item
Horse Country in1980Horse Country in
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today16 recent
TrainDepot-frame-84102014TrainDepot-frame-8410TrainDepot-brick-83942014TrainDepot-brick-8394ThePlainsBaptistChurch-83102014ThePlainsBaptistChurch-8310ThePlains FBC-84432014ThePlains FBC-8443StMarksUMC-83432014StMarksUMC-8343HighSchool-83842014HighSchool-8384GraceEpiscopalChurch-83632014GraceEpiscopalChurch-8363FormerJail-84152014FormerJail-8415CarterHotel-83682014CarterHotel-8368Group photo of an NAR Section (local rocket club)2010Group photo of an NAR Section (local rocket club)Virginia State Route 2452009Virginia State Route 245Egglofter liftoff at NARAM 502008Egglofter liftoff at NARAM 50Polo at Great Meadow2007Polo at Great MeadowDefense.gov photo essay 070519-D-7203T-0082007Defense.gov photo essay 070519-D-7203T-008Defense.gov photo essay 070519-D-7203T-0052007Defense.gov photo essay 070519-D-7203T-005VAMap-doton-ThePlains2005VAMap-doton-ThePlains
On the map

The Plains on the map, 1943 to 1983

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

The Plains on the 1943 USGS mapThe Plains on the 1970 USGS mapThe Plains on the 1983 USGS map1943Marshall 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 The Plains.

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.

"Belvoir," Fairfax Harrison house, Star Route 709, The Plains, Fauquier County, Virginia. Temple
Retake this view"Belvoir," Fairfax Harrison house, Star Route 709, The Plains, Fauquier County, Virginia. Temple, 1928

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in The Plains

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
195
each building in a district counts
first listed
2014
The Plains Historic District
The Plains Historic District
All 1 listings
The Plains Historic DistrictPlace · listed 2014

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

Questions about The Plains’ history

What year was The Plains founded?

The The Plains post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in The Plains?

One place: the Plains Historic District (listed 2014).

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.