The story
Read it all →How Glen Dale came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Glen Dale.
The city was named after Glendale, the farm of a local family.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick answers
How Glen Dale began
When was Glen Dale founded?
1887
The Glen Dale post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 1,493 in 19302020 census: 1,496139 years
How historic is Glen Dale?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Glen Dale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Glen Dale’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Glen Dale is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Glen Dale’s overall grade.
Founding era1887, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194033.0% of homes (±11.4) · typical WV town 13.0% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 13.7 per 10,000 residents · typical WV town 29.6 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 69%
NewerOlder
West Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical West Virginia town has 29.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Glen Dale’s 13.7 sits near the middle of its state (55% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Glen Dale’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Glen Dale’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Glen Dale’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Glen Dale, census by census
Peaked at 2,150 in 1970; 1,496 people lived here in 2020.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Glen Dale’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Glen Dale, 1887 to 1972
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1887Post officeThe Glen Dale post office opens
- 20th century
- 1903
Born hereBernice Eddy is born here - 1953
Born hereShelley Moore Capito is born here - 1953Born hereGeorge Brett is born here
- 1960
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 2,150
- 1972
Born hereBrad Paisley is born here
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.
Add from your albumOn the map
Glen Dale on the map, 1960 to 1972
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Glen Dale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1960Businessburg sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Glen Dale.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Glen Dale
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2002
Bennett Cockayne House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
I-House1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →7 famous people were born in Glen Dale
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
G
George BrettMajor League Baseball third baseman · b. 1953C
Chris LancosAmerican soccer player · b. 1984H
Healy BaumgardnerAmerican political advisor · b. 1979Places that used to be
Old corners and places now gone
Glen Dale’s post office has been open since 1887.
Hamlets and corners on the map
GlendaleZitko Terrace
Gone or out of use
Glendale Public Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Glen Dale’s history
What year was Glen Dale founded?
The Glen Dale post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Glen Dale rank for history?
Glen Dale is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Glen Dale?
One place: the Bennett Cockayne House (listed 2002).
How old are the homes in Glen Dale?
33% of Glen Dale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.4 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1953.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From 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) 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.