Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Vinton

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Vinton

Vinton dates to 1884, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns · #64 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 30 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1890.

1884founded
4on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Vinton began

When was Vinton founded?

1884

Vinton dates its founding to 1884 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 1,057 in 18902020 census: 8,059142 years

How historic is Vinton?

B

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1856.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Vinton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vinton is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #64 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Vinton’s overall grade.
Founding era1884, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.9% of homes (±5.6) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register4 listings, 32 historic buildings, 39.7 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 65%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 75%

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 Vinton’s 39.7 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 32 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% 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 (±5.6 points). Two sources give 1884.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Vinton’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Vinton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Vinton, and 10 old place names are still on the map.A historic districtThe Vinton Downtown Historic District takes in 27 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vinton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Vinton’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Gish's Mills, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gish's Mills
1856–1882
Vinton
1885–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bali HaiBlue Ridge HeightsBowmanBriarcliffDillon WoodsHowellLynn HavenSouthamptonTimberidge AcresVinton Heights
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vinton
Mount ViewRuddell

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

On the National Register

4 listings protect 32 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
32
each building in a district counts
first listed
2016
Cook, Roland E., Elementary School
Cook, Roland E., Elementary SchoolByrd, William, High School Historic DistrictGish Mill, built 1846Vinton Downtown Historic District
BuildingsDistricts
Cook, Roland E., Elementary SchoolBuilding
Byrd, William, High School Historic DistrictDistrict
Gish MillBuilt 1846
All 4 listings
Vinton Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2024

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

The story

How Vinton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vinton.

Read it all →

By the late 18th century, settlers began moving into the area and in 1797, the Gish family established a gristmill on Glade Creek. Afterward the area would become known as Gish's Mill. As the railroad expanded into the Roanoke Valley, Gish's Mill became a stop for the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. In the late 1870s and early 1880s, the Gish family led a movement to establish a town around the train depot site. A mass meeting to discuss incorporation was held in 1883 and in 1884 the area was incorporated as the Town of Vinton.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vinton, 1846 to 1996

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846BuiltGish Mill is built
  3. 1856Post officeThe Gish's Mills post office opens
  4. 1882Post officeThe Gish's Mills post office closes
  5. 1884
    FoundingVinton is established
  6. 1885Post officeThe Vinton post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1930Born hereDavid Huddleston is born here
  10. 1977Born hereMike McGuire is born here
  11. 1996Born hereMichael McGuire is born here
By decade

Vinton, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Gish Mill2023Gish MillWilliam Byrd HS in Vinton, former2017William Byrd HS in Vinton, formerRoland E. Cook Elementary School2016Roland E. Cook Elementary SchoolVintonvirginia2011VintonvirginiaVAMap-doton-Vinton2005VAMap-doton-Vinton
On the map

Vinton on the map, 1929 to 1984

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

Vinton on the 1929 USGS mapVinton on the 1933 USGS mapVinton on the 1962 USGS mapVinton on the 1977 USGS mapVinton on the 1984 USGS map1929Roanoke 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 Vinton.

People over time

Vinton, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 8,098

Between 1,057 and 8,098 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Vinton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
David HuddlestonAmerican actor · b. 1930
M
Mike McGuireAmerican basketball coach · b. 1977
M
Michael McGuireAmerican former professional stock car racing d… · b. 1996
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Roanoke60 historic placesA−

Questions about Vinton’s history

What year was Vinton founded?

In 1884, according to Wikidata. Vinton’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1890 counted 1,057 people here.

How does Vinton rank for history?

Vinton is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #64 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 Vinton?

4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Cook, Roland E., Elementary School (listed 2016, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Byrd, William, High School Historic District and the Vinton Downtown Historic District, with 30 contributing buildings. 32 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Vinton?

18% of Vinton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1968.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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) 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.