Most of Boaz was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 10 buildings.
Founding year: the first Boaz post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Boaz’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Boaz is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Boaz’s overall grade.
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 Boaz’s 71.4 sits above most of its state (70% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±2.8 points) is firm at this size. 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 Boaz’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Boaz, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Boaz yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Boaz is a census-designated place (CDP) in Wood County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 1,321. The community was named in 1878 by the United States Post Office Department, which selected from three names suggested by a resident named William Johnson: "Johnson," "Ruth," and "Boaz."
Its first post office opened in 1885. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,297 in 2010, 1,321 in 2020.
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.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
The Boaz post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Boaz rank for history?
Boaz is more historic than 42% 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.
What is on the National Register in Boaz?
One place: the Henderson Hall Historic District (listed 1986).
How old are the homes in Boaz?
3% of Boaz’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
