Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Beaver Mill. Most of Craigsville was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975.
The Craigsville post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Beaver Mills (1858), Beaver (1895) and Cottle (1949), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Craigsville is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Craigsville’s 4.6 sits near the middle of its state (44% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Craigsville’s history is told.
Craigsville’s post office has been open since 1891. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Craigsville.
The community derives its name from James Craig, an original owner of the town site.
Located near Craigsville is the Beaver Mill, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The Craigsville post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Craigsville is more historic than 24% 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.
One place: the Beaver Mill (listed 2001).
1% of Craigsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1975.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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