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History · Ellenboro

Ellenboro’s post office opened in 1858, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

1858first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5
Quick answers

How Ellenboro began

When was Ellenboro founded?

1858

The Ellenboro post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 221168 years
Founding year: the first Ellenboro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Ellenboro’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 Ellenboro are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ellenboro’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ellenboro’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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The story so far

Ellenboro, in brief

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

Ellenboro is a town in Ritchie County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 222 at the 2020 census. The town is located at the junction of U.S. Route 50 and West Virginia Route 16; the North Bend Rail Trail also passes through the town. The town was named for Ellen Mariah Williamson, the eldest daughter of the family that granted a right of way for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to build their line through the town; an earlier name for the community was Shumley. Ellenboro was incorporated in 1903.

Its first post office opened in 1858. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 363 to 221 (-39%).

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

By decade

Ellenboro, decade by decade

Today3 recent
2017-07-23 20 30 40 View south along West Virginia State Route 16 (Main Street) at U.S. Route 50 (Northwestern Turnpike…20172017-07-23 20 30 40 View south along West Virginia St…Ellenboro West Virginia2007Ellenboro West VirginiaWVMap-doton-Ellenboro2004WVMap-doton-Ellenboro
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Ellenboro’s post office has been open since 1858.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Lamberton
1cemetery inside Ellenboro
Ellenboro

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

Questions about Ellenboro’s history

What year was Ellenboro founded?

The Ellenboro post office opened in 1858, 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 (3), 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.