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History · Hometown

Hometown’s post office opened in 1952

Most of Hometown was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1906 on.

1952first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Youngamerican · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Hometown began

When was Hometown founded?

1952

The Hometown post office opened in 1952, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 55674 years
Founding year: the first Hometown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Hometown’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hometown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19064 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1999. Watch Hometown change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hometown’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Hometown on the map, 1906 to 1999

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

Hometown on the 1906 USGS mapHometown on the 1958 USGS mapHometown on the 1975 USGS mapHometown on the 1999 USGS map1906Winfield 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 Hometown.

The story so far

Hometown, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hometown yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Hometown is a census-designated place (CDP) in Putnam County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 556 (down from 668 at the 2010 census). The community is located along the Kanawha River on West Virginia Route 62. Hometown has six streets that intersect at one street. There is an elementary school. The red house on the left in the photo was constructed for Thomas M. Brown and Ella Mae Criner Brown in the early 1920s, and was the first house built at Hometown. Hometown is a unique community, with no true elected mayor. A dog who roams Hometown and Bancroft is who the residents refer to as the mayor.

Its first post office opened in 1952. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 668 to 556 (-17%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Hometown, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Pemandangan halaman belakang rumah2025Pemandangan halaman belakang rumahHometownWVPark-square2009HometownWVPark-squareHometownWV2008HometownWVHometownWVPark2007HometownWVPark

Questions about Hometown’s history

What year was Hometown founded?

The Hometown post office opened in 1952, 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 →
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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 (4), 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.