Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Eccles. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1914Eccles 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 Eccles.
The story so far
Eccles, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Eccles yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Eccles is a census-designated place (CDP) in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. Eccles is located on West Virginia Route 3, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Beckley. Eccles has a post office with ZIP code 25836. As of the 2020 census, its population was 334 (down from 362 at the 2010 census). The community was originally named after the book of Ecclesiastes from the bible, where the mining company of its namesake was formed around the turn of the century. The name was later shortened by the local post office to Eccles to allow for easier postage and mail flow due to a common inability to correctly spell the name. Eccles is the site of the April 28, 1914 Eccles coal mining disaster, which…
Its first post office opened in 1907. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 362 to 334 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
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 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.
