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History · Garten

Garten’s post office opened in 1920, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1910 on.

1920first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Garten began

When was Garten founded?

1920

The Garten post office opened in 1920, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Braggville (1909), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 204106 years
Founding year: the first Garten post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Garten’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 Garten are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Garten’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19105 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 1976. Watch Garten change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Garten’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Garten’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

Garten, in brief

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

Garten is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 204. Garten is in the center of the county, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) southeast of Fayetteville, the county seat, and 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Oak Hill. It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of the west rim of the New River Gorge.

Its first post office opened in 1920.

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

On the map

Garten on the map, 1910 to 1976

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

Garten on the 1910 USGS mapGarten on the 1928 USGS mapGarten on the 1931 USGS mapGarten on the 1969 USGS mapGarten on the 1976 USGS map1910Fayetteville 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 Garten.

Timeline

Garten, 1909 to 1972

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1909Post officeThe Braggville post office opens
  3. 1910On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1912Post officeThe Braggville post office closes
  5. 1920Post officeThe Garten post office opens
  6. 1972Post officeThe Garten post office closes
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.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Garten

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

See all →
Gino MarchettiPlayer of American football · b. 1927
E
Earl JonesAmerican basketball player · b. 1961
Timothy TrumanAmerican writer · b. 1956
C
Calvin HicksArtist · b. 1941
MacGillivray MilneNaval officer and Governor of American Samoa · b. 1882
Paul PeckAmerican aviator · b. 1889
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Garten had its own post office from 1920 to 1972. Another post office, Braggville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Braggville
1909–1912
Garten
1920–1972
19001960today
Gone or out of use
Altamont Schoolschool

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

Questions about Garten’s history

What year was Garten founded?

The Garten post office opened in 1920, 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 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.