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–Not graded
History · Cedar Grove

Cedar Grove’s post office opened in 1884, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Little Brick Church and the Cedar Grove. Below: old-book passages.

1884first post office
2on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Cedar Grove began, and where its name came from

When was Cedar Grove founded?

1884

The Cedar Grove post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1902.

2020 census: 718142 years

How did Cedar Grove get its name?

Cedar Grove’s name is derived from the time the town was established, when a large juniper forest, misidentified as cedars by early settlers, was growing at that location.

Founding year: the first Cedar Grove post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1902. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Cedar Grove’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 Cedar Grove are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Cedar Grove’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cedar Grove’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cedar Grove’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

How Cedar Grove came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cedar Grove.

Read it all →

Cedar Grove was incorporated in 1902. Its name is derived from the time the town was established, when a large juniper forest, misidentified as cedars by early settlers, was growing at that location. Walter Kelly attempted to settle in Cedar Grove in 1773, but he was soon killed by Native Americans. William Morris erected Fort Morris, sometimes referred to as Fort Kelly, a year later in 1774, creating the first permanent white settlement in the Kanawha Valley.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Cedar Grove in 1911

Passages that mention Cedar Grove, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The Kelly's Creek Railroad, a branch road and also a coal road, runs five miles from Cedar Grove to Mammoth; also Kelly's Creek South Western Railroad, two and a half miles long, running from Cedar Grove to Ward.
History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia1911 · page 237Read the page →
Read the text

The Kelly's Creek Railroad, a branch road and also a coal road, runs five miles from Cedar Grove to Mammoth; also Kelly's Creek South Western Railroad, two and a half miles long, running from Cedar Grove to Ward.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Cedar Grove, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Cedar Grove (William Tompkins House)2014Cedar Grove (William Tompkins House)
On the National Register

2 historic places in Cedar Grove

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Little Brick Church
Little Brick ChurchCedar Grove
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial1
Georgian1
Little Brick ChurchBuilding
Cedar GroveColonial

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

GlasgowIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cedar Grove’s history

What year was Cedar Grove founded?

The Cedar Grove post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1902.

What is on the National Register in Cedar Grove?

Two places: the Little Brick Church (listed 1974) and the Cedar Grove (1975).

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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.