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–Not graded
History · Dorothy

Half of Dorothy’s homes were built after 2001

Most of Dorothy was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1914 on.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Dorothy’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Dorothy’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19147 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1996. Watch Dorothy change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dorothy’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dorothy’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewThe Big Supply Co. store: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Dorothy on the map, 1914 to 1996

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

Dorothy on the 1914 USGS mapDorothy on the 1929 USGS mapDorothy on the 1932 USGS mapDorothy on the 1965 USGS mapDorothy on the 1976 USGS mapDorothy on the 1989 USGS mapDorothy on the 1996 USGS map1914Eccles 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 Dorothy.

The story so far

Dorothy, in brief

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

Dorothy is an unincorporated community in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Dorothy had a population of 207. Dorothy is 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east-southeast of Whitesville. Dorothy has a post office with ZIP code 25060. At one time, it was also called Lawson.

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

Timeline

Dorothy, 1886 to 1915

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Lawson post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1915In the archiveThe Big Supply Co. store
  6. 1915Post officeThe Lawson post office closes
By decade

Dorothy, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
The Big Supply Co. store1915The Big Supply Co. store
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

The Big Supply Co. store
Retake this viewThe Big Supply Co. store, 1915

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dorothy’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Dorothy

Nobody well known was born in Dorothy itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Little Jimmy DickensAmerican musician · b. 1920
Mike BarrettAmerican basketball player · b. 1943
E
Earl JonesAmerican basketball player · b. 1961
Elizabeth StephensAmerican artist and filmmaker · b. 1960
C
Calvin HicksArtist · b. 1941
Carmel Bernon Harvey, Jr.United States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1946
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Another post office, Lawson, opened and closed inside today’s town.

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dorothy
HillUnion

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

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

Questions about Dorothy’s history

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 the Library of Congress (1), 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.