Founding year: the first Coal Fork post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Coal Fork’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coal Fork is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Coal Fork’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 Coal Fork’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.2 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 Coal Fork’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coal Fork. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1909Charleston 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 Coal Fork.
The story so far
Coal Fork, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Coal Fork yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Coal Fork is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of a larger unincorporated community known as Campbells Creek, approximately 10 minutes east of Charleston. The population was 1,039 at the 2020 census (down from 1,233 at the 2010 census).
Its first post office opened in 1910. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,233 to 1,039 (-16%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Coal Fork in 1911
Passages that mention Coal Fork, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia1911 · page 469Read the page →
Read the text
Creek, near Dana. By trade he was a millwright and from 1868 until 1870 he engaged in lumbering and saw mill work, and also operated a large cooperage plant at Coal Fork on Campbell's Creek, after which he came to Blue Creek and settled on what is now the old Quick homestead. His death occurred September 25, 1896. For twenty-seven years he had been a
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.
Timeline
Coal Fork, 1909 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Coal Fork had its own post office from 1910 to 1956.
Coal Fork
1910–1956
19101970today
Gone or out of use
Midway Elementary Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Coal Fork
Younger Branch
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Coal Fork’s history
What year was Coal Fork founded?
The Coal Fork post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Coal Fork rank for history?
Coal Fork is more historic than 17% 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.
How old are the homes in Coal Fork?
11% of Coal Fork’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.2 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
