The Gassaway post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Mavis (1930), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,086 in 19102020 census: 759122 years
Founding year: the first Gassaway post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Gassaway’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town was originally created at the ends of two divisions of the Coal and Coke Railway, one originating in Charleston and the other originating in Elkins. Because of its central location, the area was an ideal place to build shops to facilitate the transition between the relatively flat Charleston division, which could operate with standard equipment, and the more hilly Elkins division of the Coal & Coke which required heavier engines. The town was laid out in 1904, and over the next decade, businesses and infrastructure such as hotels, a bank, stores, schools, a hospital, office buildings and churches appeared to serve the growing population. By 1915, the Coal & Coke Railway Company had completed work on a depot to facilitate passenger service to the town. The Gassaway Depot still stands today and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gassaway. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1910Gassaway 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 Gassaway.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Gassaway in 1919
Passages that mention Gassaway, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Braxton County and central West Virginia1919 · page 110Read the page →
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Davis Memorial church. It is also built of native stone. In 1912 and 1913, the iron bridge was built across the Elk. The county had been asked to contribute to this enterprise, and the matter being placed before the people, it was voted down, and the town of Gassaway bore the entire burden of its construction. In 1914 and 1915, the railroad built a very handsome and commodious depot.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Braxton County and central West Virginia1919 · page 111Read the page →
Read the text
end of the town, and a very substantial iron bridge at the head of town. Gassaway is poorly situated to county roads leading to the toAvn. The river hill on the south of town is rugged and steep, while the river road on the north side from Gassaway to Frametown is almost exclusively occupied or made dangerous by the Elk & Little Kanawha railroad. Gassaway is quite a business place with many enterprising and business citizens. The post office in 1908 was made a Presidential office. It pays about $1,000. The railroad shops work about one hundred and fifty hands, and its
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Gassaway, 1878 to 1968
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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