Founding year: the first Buffalo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Buffalo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Buffalo is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Buffalo’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 Buffalo’s 26.1 sits near the middle of its state (60% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±13.0 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 Buffalo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Along with numerous sites in the Kanawha River Valley, Buffalo was originally settled by waves of ancient cultures of prehistoric indigenous peoples. Clovis points indicate the presence of inhabitants more than 10,000 years ago. One of the last cultures, that of the Fort Ancient people, had a few villages such as Buffalo and Marmet that survived into the time of European exploration.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Buffalo’s history
What year was Buffalo founded?
The Buffalo post office opened in 1812, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Buffalo rank for history?
Buffalo is more historic than 75% 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 Buffalo?
One place: the Buffalo Town Square Historic District (listed 1991).
How old are the homes in Buffalo?
14% of Buffalo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.0 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1985.
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), 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.
