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Glenville West VirginiaPhoto: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5
AHistory
History · Glenville

Glenville’s post office opened in 1845, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns. What drives it

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1860.

1845first post office
6on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Glenville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Glenville began

When was Glenville founded?

1845

The Glenville post office opened in 1845, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 398 in 18602020 census: 1,129181 years

How historic is Glenville?

A

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Glenville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Glenville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Glenville is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Glenville’s overall grade.
Founding era1845, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194024.4% of homes (±6.0) · typical WV town 13.0% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register6 listings, 57.9 per 10,000 residents · typical WV town 29.6 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
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 Glenville’s 57.9 sits above most of its state (67% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 6 listings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 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 Glenville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1860 and 1870, then grew 6-fold.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1965. Watch Glenville change.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Glenville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLittle Kanawha River: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Glenville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000190019502000398 in 1860Low: 174

Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1870, then grew 6-fold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

On the map

Glenville on the map, 1906 to 1965

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

Glenville on the 1906 USGS mapGlenville on the 1925 USGS mapGlenville on the 1965 USGS map1906Glenville 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 Glenville.

The story

How Glenville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Glenville.

Read it all →

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, pioneers began settling in the area they called ‘‘the Ford’’ because it was a place where travelers could cross the river. Later, the community was named Glenville because of its location in a glen. The first grist mill in present-day Gilmer County was constructed there in 1812. The first courthouse was completed in 1850, the second in 1872, and the current courthouse in 1923. Glenville was incorporated in 1856.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Glenville, 1845 to 1996

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1845Post officeThe Glenville post office opens
  3. 1874Born hereJohn Kee is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 2,183
  7. 1996In the archiveLittle Kanawha River
By decade

Glenville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
Little Kanawha River1996Little Kanawha River
Today11 recent
A rusted, now closed, steel bridge, constructed in 1885 in2015A rusted, now closed, steel bridge, constructed in 18…Whiting House2013Whiting HouseRuddell General Store2013Ruddell General StoreLittle Kanawha Valley Bank2013Little Kanawha Valley BankJohn E. Arbuckle House2013John E. Arbuckle HouseGilmer County Poor Farm Infirmary2013Gilmer County Poor Farm InfirmaryGlenville Truss Bridge2011Glenville Truss BridgeGlenville West Virginia2006Glenville West VirginiaGlenville WV2006Glenville WVGilmer County Courthouse WV2006Gilmer County Courthouse WVWVMap-doton-Glenville2004WVMap-doton-Glenville
On the National Register

6 historic places in Glenville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1991
Little Kanawha Valley Bank
Little Kanawha Valley BankJohn E. Arbuckle HouseGlenville Truss BridgeWhiting HouseRuddell General Store
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival1
Neo-Classical Revival1
Late Victorian: Queen Anne1
Colonial Revival1
Foursquare1
Pratt Through Truss1
Little Kanawha Valley BankClassical Revival
John E. Arbuckle HouseLate Victorian: Queen Anne
Gilmer County Poor Farm InfirmaryColonial Revival
Glenville Truss BridgePratt Through Truss
Whiting HouseQueen Anne
Ruddell General StoreCommercial Style

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Glenville’s post office has been open since 1845.

Gone or out of use
Fort Mooremilitary
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Glenville
Old GlenvilleWhitting

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

Questions about Glenville’s history

What year was Glenville founded?

The Glenville post office opened in 1845, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Glenville rank for history?

Glenville is more historic than 87% 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 Glenville?

6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Little Kanawha Valley Bank (listed 1991, the first), and 1 structure.

How old are the homes in Glenville?

24% of Glenville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1964.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.