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History · Birch River

Birch River’s post office opened in 1828

Below: maps from 1967 on.

1828first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Birch River began

When was Birch River founded?

1828

The Birch River post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 86198 years
Founding year: the first Birch River post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Birch River’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 Birch River are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1828: 198 years of Birch River.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Birch River’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Birch River’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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The story so far

Birch River, in brief

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

Birch River is a census-designated place (CDP) in northern Nicholas County, West Virginia, United States. The community is situated in the valley of the Birch River and is the location of the western terminus of West Virginia Route 82, at U.S. Route 19. As of the 2020 census, its population was 86 (down from 107 at the 2010 census).

Its first post office opened in 1828. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 107 to 86 (-20%).

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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On the map

Birch River on the map, 1967 to 1976

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

Birch River on the 1967 USGS mapBirch River on the 1976 USGS map1967Widen sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Birch River.

Questions about Birch River’s history

What year was Birch River founded?

The Birch River post office opened in 1828, 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.