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History · Belmont

Belmont’s post office opened in 1887

Most of Belmont was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1950.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Belmont began

When was Belmont founded?

1887

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

First census: 215 in 19502020 census: 875139 years
Founding year: the first Belmont post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Belmont’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 Belmont are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19043 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1976. Watch Belmont change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Belmont’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Belmont’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

Belmont on the map, 1904 to 1976

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

Belmont on the 1904 USGS mapBelmont on the 1927 USGS mapBelmont on the 1976 USGS map1904Marietta 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 Belmont.

The story

How Belmont came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Belmont.

Read it all →

Belmont was incorporated on April 19, 1946, by the Circuit Court of Pleasants County. The city was named for the beautiful hills (beau mont) in the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Belmont, 1887 to 1931

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Belmont post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1931Born hereWhitey Adolfson is born here
By decade

Belmont, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Pleasants Power Station2023Pleasants Power StationPleasants Power Station2023Pleasants Power StationPleasants Power Station2023Pleasants Power StationPleasants Power Station2023Pleasants Power StationPleasants Power Station2023Pleasants Power StationPleasants Power Station2023Pleasants Power StationWVMap-doton-Belmont2004WVMap-doton-BelmontBelmont WV 2000 Census reference map2000Belmont WV 2000 Census reference mapMap
People over time

Belmont, census by census

02004006008001,0001960198020002020Peak: 1,036

Between 215 and 1,036 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Questions about Belmont’s history

What year was Belmont founded?

The Belmont 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 →
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 (8), 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.