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History · Farmington

Farmington’s post office opened in 1850, and 59% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1870.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
59%homes built before 1940
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Farmington began

When was Farmington founded?

1850

The Farmington post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 89 in 18702020 census: 392176 years
Founding year: the first Farmington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Farmington’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 Farmington are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Farmington’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 880 in 1940; 392 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Farmington’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Farmington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Farmington.

Read it all →

The community was named for the fact a large share of the first settlers were farmers. The area was first settled by James Goodin, Nicholas Wood, Jacob Straight, and by William Willey (father of Senator Waitman Willey) in the late 1700s. Their first settlements were built on and around the Chatham Hill area. A later settler, Joseph Morgan, built the town's first grist, saw, and carding mill here in 1801, and Daniel Tennant built the first steam grist mill in 1883. In addition to the listed settlers, many other of the first families to settle Farmington included names such as Bock, Downs, Dudley, Martin, Laidley, and Yost. Several of these first families took part in the defense of western Virginia against Natives during the American Revolution, serving with the Monongalia County Militia or other Continental Regiments. In Spring of 1861, a small force of Confederate forces burnt a railro…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Farmington, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 880

Peaked at 880 in 1940; 392 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Timeline

Farmington, 1828 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Born hereBenjamin F. Martin is born here
  3. 1850Post officeThe Farmington post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1921Born hereFrank Gatski is born here
  6. 1934Born hereSam Huff is born here
  7. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 880
  8. 1947Born hereJoe Manchin is born here
  9. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Farmington, decade by decade

Today2 recent
2017-07-23 17 52 13 View north along West Virginia State Route 218 (Main Street) at U.S. Route 250 (Husky Highway) in20172017-07-23 17 52 13 View north along West Virginia St…WVMap-doton-Farmington2004WVMap-doton-Farmington
On the map

Farmington on the map, 1949 to 1984

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

Farmington on the 1949 USGS mapFarmington on the 1956 USGS mapFarmington on the 1961 USGS mapFarmington on the 1984 USGS map1949Clarksburg sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Farmington.

Famous people

7 famous people were born in Farmington

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Joe ManchinAmerican politician and businessman · b. 1947
Sam HuffAmerican football player · b. 1934
F
Frank GatskiAmerican football player · b. 1921
Benjamin F. MartinAmerican politician · b. 1828
A. James ManchinAmerican politician in West Virginia · b. 1927
E
Ed ZernAmerican writer, humorist, fisherman, environme… · b. 1910

Questions about Farmington’s history

What year was Farmington founded?

The Farmington post office opened in 1850, 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 →
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.