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History · Elk Garden

Elk Garden’s post office opened in 1881, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1919 on and the census since 1890.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Elk Garden began

When was Elk Garden founded?

1881

The Elk Garden post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 723 in 18902020 census: 212145 years
Founding year: the first Elk Garden post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Elk Garden’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 Elk Garden are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19197 editions of the USGS map, 1919 to 1997. Watch Elk Garden change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elk Garden’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elk Garden’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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On the map

Elk Garden on the map, 1919 to 1997

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

Elk Garden on the 1919 USGS mapElk Garden on the 1922 USGS mapElk Garden on the 1948 USGS mapElk Garden on the 1950 USGS mapElk Garden on the 1974 USGS mapElk Garden on the 1981 USGS mapElk Garden on the 1997 USGS map1919Elk Garden 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 Elk Garden.

The story so far

Elk Garden, in brief

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

Elk Garden is a town in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the 'Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 211 at the 2020 census. Elk Garden High School was consolidated into Keyser High School in 1997. However the Primary School is still in session, offering classes from Pre-Kindergarten through the fifth grade. The school mascot is the Elk Garden Stags. Elk Garden was incorporated in 1890 by the Mineral County Circuit Court. It is named for an elk lick near the original town site.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 232 to 212 (-9%).

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

By decade

Elk Garden, decade by decade

Today1 recent
WVMap-doton-ElkGarden2004WVMap-doton-ElkGarden
People over time

Elk Garden, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 723

Between 212 and 723 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elk Garden’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Elk Garden

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

See all →
H
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.American literary critic, professor and histori… · b. 1950
D
Don RedmanAmerican musician · b. 1900
Lefty GroveAmerican baseball player · b. 1900
Binger HermannAmerican politician · b. 1843
Darvin MoonAmerican poker player · b. 1963
William M. O. DawsonAmerican politician · b. 1853

Questions about Elk Garden’s history

What year was Elk Garden founded?

The Elk Garden post office opened in 1881, 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 →
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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 Wikimedia Commons (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.