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History · Great Cacapon

Great Cacapon’s post office opened in 1876, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1900 on.

1876first post office
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Great Cacapon’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Great Cacapon began

When was Great Cacapon founded?

1876

The Great Cacapon post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cacapon Depot (1848), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 315150 years
Founding year: the first Great Cacapon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Great Cacapon’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19004 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1996. Watch Great Cacapon change.Old housesHalf of Great Cacapon’s homes were built before 1947.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Great Cacapon’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewShenandoah at Great Cacapon, March 1969: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Great Cacapon on the map, 1900 to 1996

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

Great Cacapon on the 1900 USGS mapGreat Cacapon on the 1958 USGS mapGreat Cacapon on the 1974 USGS mapGreat Cacapon on the 1996 USGS map1900Paw Paw 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 Great Cacapon.

The story

How Great Cacapon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Great Cacapon.

Read it all →

Great Cacapon takes its name from the Cacapon River (from the Native American meaning "medicine water") which empties into the Potomac River to the town's east. It was originally known as Cacapon Depot on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad mainline when a post office was established here in 1848. In 1876, its name was changed to Great Cacapon to differentiate it from Little Cacapon which was also on the B&O mainline. It lies four miles down Cacapon Mountain from the Panorama Overlook along Cacapon Road (West Virginia Route 9) west of Berkeley Springs.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Great Cacapon, 1848 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848Post officeThe Cacapon Depot post office opens
  3. 1876Post officeThe Cacapon Depot post office closes
  4. 1876Post officeThe Great Cacapon post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1969In the archiveShenandoah at Great Cacapon, March 1969
By decade

Great Cacapon, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s2 items
Shenandoah at Great Cacapon, March 19691969Shenandoah at Great Cacapon, March 1969Tail of the Shenandoah at Great Cacapon, March 19691969Tail of the Shenandoah at Great Cacapon, March 1969
1970s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown2 to date
Great Cacapon WV view from roadDate?Great Cacapon WV view from roadView of Potomac River at Junction of Cacapon RiverDate?View of Potomac River at Junction of Cacapon River
Today2 recent
2016-06-25 17 50 47 View east along West Virginia State Route 9 (Central Avenue) at Station Street in20162016-06-25 17 50 47 View east along West Virginia Sta…2016-06-25 15 41 51 View west along West Virginia State Route 9 (Cacapon Road) crossing the Cacapon River bridge in20162016-06-25 15 41 51 View west along West Virginia Sta…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Shenandoah at Great Cacapon, March 1969
Retake this viewShenandoah at Great Cacapon, March 1969, 1969

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Great Cacapon’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Great Cacapon

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

See all →
Newton Diehl Baker Jr.American politician · b. 1871
Harry F. ByrdAmerican politician and newspaper publisher · b. 1887
V
Vicky BullettAmerican basketball player · b. 1967
Jennifer ArmentroutAmerican writer of contemporary romance, new ad… · b. 1980
John Joseph KainAmerican Catholic archbishop · b. 1841
M
Mary Ann ShafferUnited States writer, editor and bookshop worker · b. 1934
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Great Cacapon’s post office has been open since 1876. Another post office, Cacapon Depot, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cacapon Depot
1848–1876
Great Cacapon
1876–today
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Great Cacapon Elementary Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Great Cacapon
Great Cacapon

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

Questions about Great Cacapon’s history

What year was Great Cacapon founded?

The Great Cacapon post office opened in 1876, 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 (6), Wikipedia, 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.