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History · Arthurdale

Arthurdale dates to 1933, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 147 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1907 on.

1933founded
1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Arthurdale’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Arthurdale began

When was Arthurdale founded?

1933

Arthurdale dates its founding to 1933 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1935.

2020 census: 1,14393 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1935.

What stands out about Arthurdale’s past

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

A historic districtThe Arthurdale Historic District takes in 147 historic buildings.On the map since 19075 editions of the USGS map, 1907 to 1997. Watch Arthurdale change.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

1 listing protects 147 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
147
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Arthurdale Historic District
Arthurdale Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Arthurdale Historic DistrictVernacular

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

On the map

Arthurdale on the map, 1907 to 1997

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

Arthurdale on the 1907 USGS mapArthurdale on the 1926 USGS mapArthurdale on the 1960 USGS mapArthurdale on the 1976 USGS mapArthurdale on the 1997 USGS map1907Thornton 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 Arthurdale.

The story so far

Arthurdale, in brief

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

Arthurdale is an unincorporated community in Preston County, West Virginia, United States. It was built in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression as a social experiment to provide opportunities for unemployed local miners and farmers. Arthurdale was undertaken by the short-lived Subsistence Homesteads Division and with the personal involvement of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who used her influence to win government approval for the scheme. As of the 2020 census, Arthurdale had a population of 1,143. The aim was to encourage self-sufficiency and reduce dependence on both market forces and welfare provision. The experiment failed through a clash of ideologies, between a strong emphasis o…

Arthurdale was established in 1933.

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

Timeline

Arthurdale, 1907 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1930In the archiveThe Inn, first U.S. homesteads, Arthurdale, W. Va (68867)
  4. 1933
    FoundingArthurdale is established
  5. 1935Post officeThe Arthurdale post office opens
  6. 1944In the archiveNaval Ordnancemen receiving training at Arthurdale, W. Va., Ballard Aircraft Co. Inc. Tra…
  7. 1980In the archiveAdministration building of the Arthurdale planned community, a communal town built during…
By decade

Arthurdale, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s–1940s4 items
The Inn, first U.S. homesteads, Arthurdale, W. Va (68867)c. 1930The Inn, first U.S. homesteads, Arthurdale, W. Va (68…Eleanor Roosevelt in1933Eleanor Roosevelt inNaval Ordnancemen receiving training at Arthurdale, W. Va., Ballard Aircraft Co. Inc. Training is done on replicas... -…1944Naval Ordnancemen receiving training at Arthurdale, W…SB2C replicas Ballard Co 19441944SB2C replicas Ballard Co 1944
1950s–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
1980s2 items
Administration building of the Arthurdale planned community, a communal town built during the Great Depression of the 1…1980Administration building of the Arthurdale planned com…Administration building of the Arthurdale planned community, a communal town built during the Great Depression of the 1…1980Administration building of the Arthurdale planned com…
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
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.

The Inn, first U.S. homesteads, Arthurdale, W. Va (68867)
Retake this viewThe Inn, first U.S. homesteads, Arthurdale, W. Va (68867), c. 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Arthurdale

Nobody well known was born in Arthurdale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Don KnottsAmerican actor and stand-up comedian · b. 1924
Mary Lou RettonAmerican gymnast · b. 1968
F
Frances Benjamin JohnstonAmerican photographer, photojournalist · b. 1864
David SelbyAmerican actor · b. 1941
Edgar AdamsAmerican numismatist and olympic diver and swim… · b. 1868
Johnnie JohnsonAmerican musician · b. 1924
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Arthurdale’s post office has been open since 1935.

Gone or out of use
Arthurdale Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Arthurdale
Arthurdale

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

Help out

Finish Arthurdale’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewThe Inn, first U.S. homesteads, Arthurd…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Arthurdale’s history

What year was Arthurdale founded?

In 1933, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Arthurdale’s post office opened in 1935.

What is on the National Register in Arthurdale?

One place: the Arthurdale Historic District (listed 1989).

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 (6), 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.