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History · Holden

Holden’s post office opened in 1903

Most of Holden was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1912 on.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Holden’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Holden began

When was Holden founded?

1903

The Holden post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Diamond (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 783123 years
Founding year: the first Holden post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Holden’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Holden, and 5 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19126 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1996. Watch Holden change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Holden’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Holden’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 viewVIEW OF THE MAIN HIGHWAY THROUGH HOLDEN…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Holden’s post office has been open since 1903. Another post office, Diamond, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Diamond
1890–1893
Holden
1903–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BeebeDavisDiamondFrogtownSycamore
Gone or out of use
Copperas Schoolschool

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

On the map

Holden on the map, 1912 to 1996

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

Holden on the 1912 USGS mapHolden on the 1926 USGS mapHolden on the 1963 USGS mapHolden on the 1976 USGS mapHolden on the 1989 USGS mapHolden on the 1996 USGS map1912Holden 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 Holden.

The story

How Holden came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Holden.

Read it all →

The settlement was built between 1902 and 1915, by mining engineer Albert F. "Bert" Holden, who wanted to build a model mining town. Located along Copperas Mine Fork, the settlement had a band mill and a brick-making plant to meet the building needs of the community, and all structures were made from local materials including stones from a nearby quarry. In 1907, a mining engineer wrote:

The town of Holden is most attractive and most worthy of praise and approval. All houses are provided with electric lights, open grates and porches, water from driven wells and tastefully painted. A more orderly, more attractive, or more wisely planned and managed community does not exist in the state of West Virginia.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Holden, 1890 to 1974

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Diamond post office opens
  3. 1893Post officeThe Diamond post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Post officeThe Holden post office opens
  6. 1910Born hereMax Butcher is born here
  7. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1974In the archiveVIEW OF THE MAIN HIGHWAY THROUGH HOLDEN, WEST VIRGINIA NEAR LOGAN, SHOWING HOMES OF MININ…
By decade

Holden, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s2 items
VIEW OF THE MAIN HIGHWAY THROUGH HOLDEN, WEST VIRGINIA NEAR LOGAN, SHOWING HOMES OF MINING SUPERVISORS FRAMED BY PINK..…1974VIEW OF THE MAIN HIGHWAY THROUGH HOLDEN, WEST VIRGINI…VIEW OF THE MAIN HIGHWAY THROUGH HOLDEN, WEST VIRGINIA NEAR LOGAN, SHOWING HOMES OF MINING SUPERVISORS FRAMED BY PINK..…1974VIEW OF THE MAIN HIGHWAY THROUGH HOLDEN, WEST VIRGINI…
1980s–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
Today1 recent
Holden, West Virginia2014Holden, West Virginia
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.

VIEW OF THE MAIN HIGHWAY THROUGH HOLDEN, WEST VIRGINIA NEAR LOGAN, SHOWING HOMES OF MINING SUPERVISORS FRAMED BY PINK..…
Retake this viewVIEW OF THE MAIN HIGHWAY THROUGH HOLDEN, WEST VIRGINIA NEAR LOGAN, SHOWING HOMES OF MINING SUPERVISORS FRAMED BY PINK..…, 1974

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Holden’s history

What year was Holden founded?

The Holden post office opened in 1903, 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 (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.