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History · Adrian

Adrian’s post office opened in 1887, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1912 on.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Adrian began

When was Adrian founded?

1887

The Adrian post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 183139 years
Founding year: the first Adrian post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Adrian’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 Adrian are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19123 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1979. Watch Adrian change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Adrian’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Adrian on the map, 1912 to 1979

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

Adrian on the 1912 USGS mapAdrian on the 1966 USGS mapAdrian on the 1979 USGS map1912Crawford 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 Adrian.

The story so far

Adrian, in brief

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

Adrian is an unincorporated community in Upshur County, West Virginia, United States. Adrian is located on West Virginia Route 20, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) southwest of Buckhannon. Adrian has a post office with ZIP code 26210. As of the 2020 census, Adrian had a population of 183. Some say the origin of the name Adrian is obscure, while others believe the community has the name of an early settler. Adrian is located along Bull Run at its confluences with New Found Run and French Creek, and it is also located along County Route 20. The Elk River Railroad (formerly the Coal and Coke Railway) also passes through the community.

Its first post office opened in 1887.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Questions about Adrian’s history

What year was Adrian founded?

The Adrian post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.