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Otterbein ChurchOtterbein Church · Photo: Jud McCranie · CC BY-SA 4.0
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History · Cottageville

Cottageville’s post office opened in 1860

Most of Cottageville was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1908 on.

1860first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cottageville began

When was Cottageville founded?

1860

The Cottageville post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Wrights Mills (1828) and Moores Mills (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 114166 years
Founding year: the first Cottageville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cottageville’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 Cottageville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Cottageville.On the map since 19085 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1989. Watch Cottageville change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cottageville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cottageville’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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Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Cottageville’s post office has been open since 1860. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wrights Mills
1828–1850
Moores Mills
1850–1860
Cottageville
1860–today
18201920today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Cottageville on the map, 1908 to 1989

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

Cottageville on the 1908 USGS mapCottageville on the 1926 USGS mapCottageville on the 1960 USGS mapCottageville on the 1975 USGS mapCottageville on the 1989 USGS map1908Ravenswood 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 Cottageville.

The story so far

Cottageville, in brief

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

Cottageville (also Moores Mill, Rhodess Mill, or Wrights Mill) is an unincorporated community in western Jackson County, West Virginia, United States. It lies along West Virginia Route 331 northwest of the city of Ripley, the county seat of Jackson County. Established in 1858, its elevation is 594 feet (181 m). Although Cottageville is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 25239. As of the 2020 census, Cottageville had a population of 114. It also is the site of the annual Jackson County Junior Fair. Michael Coleman, a well known early Indian fighter, was killed and buried in the area, according to a historical marker placed by the state of WV. The wooden Grist Mill loc…

Its first post office opened in 1860.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Cottageville, 1828 to 1912

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe Wrights Mills post office opens
  3. 1850Post officeThe Wrights Mills post office closes
  4. 1850Post officeThe Moores Mills post office opens
  5. 1860Post officeThe Moores Mills post office closes
  6. 1860Post officeThe Cottageville post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1912Born hereBrad Sayre is born here
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.
Add from your album

Questions about Cottageville’s history

What year was Cottageville founded?

The Cottageville post office opened in 1860, 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 →
Start a conversation
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.