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B−History
History · Athens

Athens’ post office opened in 1896, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1910.

1896first post office
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Athens began

When was Athens founded?

1896

The Athens post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Concord Church (1866), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 575 in 19102020 census: 962130 years

How historic is Athens?

B−

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Athens post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Athens’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Athens is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Athens’ overall grade.
Founding era1896, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194035.3% of homes (±13.8) · typical WV town 13.0% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical WV town 29.6 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 49%
NewerOlder

West Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical West Virginia town has 29.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Athens’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±13.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Athens’ 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 Athens are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19163 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1968. Watch Athens change.Old housesHalf of Athens’ homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Athens’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Athens’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
On the map

Athens on the map, 1916 to 1968

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

Athens on the 1916 USGS mapAthens on the 1924 USGS mapAthens on the 1968 USGS map1916Bluefield 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 Athens.

The story

How Athens came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Athens.

Read it all →

The community was named Concord; however, in 1896 another post office in Concord, Hampshire County, West Virginia was established and the town's name was changed to Athens after the Greek city and center of learning. The community incorporated as a town on August 6, 1906.

Located near Athens is the Col. William Henderson French House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Athens, 1866 to 1916

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Concord Church post office opens
  3. 1896Post officeThe Concord Church post office closes
  4. 1896Post officeThe Athens post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Athens, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Athens-house-state-wv2018Athens-house-state-wvAthens-State-Street-wv2018Athens-State-Street-wvAthens-State-Street-buildings-wv2018Athens-State-Street-buildings-wvAthens-Post-Office-wv2018Athens-Post-Office-wvAthens-Concord-United-Methodist-wv2018Athens-Concord-United-Methodist-wvAthens-Baptist-Church-wv2018Athens-Baptist-Church-wvAthens WV 2009 reference map2009Athens WV 2009 reference mapMapWVMap-doton-Athens2004WVMap-doton-Athens
People over time

Athens, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,147

Between 552 and 1,147 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Athens

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

See all →
John Forbes NashAmerican mathematician and economist · b. 1928
Sylvia BurwellFormer United States Secretary of Health and Hu… · b. 1965
Norman I. PlatnickAmerican arachnologist · b. 1951
John Davis ChandlerAmerican actor · b. 1935
C
Charlie BarnettAmerican actor and comedian · b. 1954
Rod ThornAmerican basketball player · b. 1941
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Athens’s post office has been open since 1896. Another post office, Concord Church, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Concord Church
1866–1896
Athens
1896–today
18601940today
Gone or out of use
Athens Elementary SchoolschoolAthens High Schoolschool

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

Questions about Athens’ history

What year was Athens founded?

The Athens post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Athens rank for history?

Athens is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in Athens?

35% of Athens’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.8 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1959.

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 (8), 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.