Timberville’s post office opened in 1835, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #26 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 224 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Timberville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1884.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Timberville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Timberville is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #26 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Timberville’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 Timberville’s 761 sits above most of its state (94% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 231 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1884.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Timberville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Prior to European colonization, the land upon which Timberville sits was inhabited by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. A burial mound two feet high, built on a slight natural elevation near the left bank of the Shenandoah River, was located one mile north of Timberville. The mound was disturbed and examined in the 1890s.
The earliest white settlers of Timberville were mostly Pennsylvania Dutch who migrated to the Shenandoah Valley.
It is said that one day in early times, a four-horse team and wagon broke down the bridge, at Timberville, with more serious results to the bridge than to the team. The third bridge, erected in 1840, washed away in 1842 or 1843. Then the river was forded till 1884, when the present bridge was built.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
10. Timberville: House completed in 1879. The first Dunker meetings in Timberville began about 1820 in John Zigler's barn; his brick house, built in 1832, was arranged for meetings.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Timberville, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Grew from 112 people in 1880 to 2,963 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Timberville’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Timberville’s history
What year was Timberville founded?
The Timberville post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1884.
How does Timberville rank for history?
Timberville is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #26 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 Timberville?
Two places: the David and Catherine Driver Farm (listed 2007) and the Timberville Historic District (2013).
How old are the homes in Timberville?
11% of Timberville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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