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A−History
History · Huntington

Huntington’s post office opened in 1871, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #24 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it

37 places in town are on the National Register, among them six historic districts with 267 buildings between them. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
37on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
17old photos & papers
62famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Huntington’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Huntington began

When was Huntington founded?

1871

The Huntington post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Nine smaller post offices, Guyandotte (1810), Cabell (1811) and South Landing (1830), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 3,174 in 18802020 census: 46,842155 years

How historic is Huntington?

A−

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Huntington’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Huntington is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #24 of 61 in West Virginia. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Huntington’s overall grade.
Founding era1871, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194029.9% of homes (±2.1) · typical WV town 13.0% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register37 listings, 296 historic buildings, 64.6 per 10,000 residents · typical WV town 29.6 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder
West Virginia towns of 2,500+ (61)Ahead of 62%

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 Huntington’s 64.6 sits above most of its state (69% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 296 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Huntington’s past

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

Landmarks on the Register37 places on the National Register.A historic districtThe Downtown Huntington Historic District takes in 113 historic buildings.Lost villages9 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Huntington, and 19 old place names are still on the map.Famous sons and daughtersBrad Dourif, Thomas Massie and 60 more were born here.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

37 listings protect 296 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
37
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
296
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Harvey House
Harvey HouseThomas Carroll HouseOld Main, Marshall UniversityBaltimore and Ohio Railroad DepotCarnegie Public Library, built 1902Ninth Street West Historic DistrictMemorial ArchU.S. Post Office and Courthouse, built 1905Cabell County CourthouseCampbell-Hicks HouseDouglass Junior and Senior High School, built 1924Downtown Huntington Historic DistrictRitter Park Historic DistrictMasonic Temple-Watts, Ritter, Wholesale Drygoods Company BuildingOhev Sholom TempleRicketts HouseSimms School BuildingWest Virginia Colored Children's HomeLiggett and Myers Tobacco CompanyHuntington High SchoolFoster Memorial HomeMortimer Place Historic DistrictPrichard HouseRotary Park BridgeChesapeake and Ohio 1308 Steam Locomotive, built 1948Johnston-Meek HouseElk River Coal and Lumber Company #10 Steam LocomotiveZachary Taylor Wellington HouseBarnett Hospital and Nursing SchoolHawthorne Historic DistrictKenwoodFreeman EstateGarrison, Memphis Tennessee House, built 192014th Street West Historic DistrictMarshall University Memorial FountainBethel Memorial Park Cemetery
BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructuresObjects

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival5
Tudor Revival4
Queen Anne3
Classical Revival3
Neoclassical Revival2
Neo-Classical Revival2
Harvey HouseBuilding
Thomas Carroll HouseBuilding
Old Main, Marshall UniversityTudor Gothic
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad DepotBuilding
Carnegie Public LibraryBeaux Arts Classicism · Built 1902
Ninth Street West Historic DistrictVictorian
Memorial ArchNeoclassical Revival
U.S. Post Office and CourthouseBeaux-Arts · Built 1905
All 37 listings
Cabell County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1982Campbell-Hicks HouseBuilding · listed 1985Douglass Junior and Senior High SchoolBuilding · listed 1985Downtown Huntington Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1986Ritter Park Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1990Masonic Temple-Watts, Ritter, Wholesale Drygoods Company BuildingBuilding · listed 1993Ohev Sholom TempleBuilding · listed 1994Ricketts HouseBuilding · listed 1994Simms School BuildingBuilding · listed 1997West Virginia Colored Children's HomeBuilding · listed 1997Liggett and Myers Tobacco CompanyBuilding · listed 1998Huntington High SchoolBuilding · listed 2000Foster Memorial HomeBuilding · listed 2001Mortimer Place Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2001Prichard HouseBuilding · listed 2001Rotary Park BridgeStructure · listed 2002Chesapeake and Ohio 1308 Steam LocomotiveStructure · listed 2003Johnston-Meek HouseBuilding · listed 2004Elk River Coal and Lumber Company #10 Steam LocomotiveStructure · listed 2006Zachary Taylor Wellington HouseBuilding · listed 2008Barnett Hospital and Nursing SchoolBuilding · listed 2009Hawthorne Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2007KenwoodBuilding · listed 2007Freeman EstateBuilding · listed 2009Garrison, Memphis Tennessee HouseBuilding · listed 201714th Street West Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2024Marshall University Memorial FountainObject · listed 2024Bethel Memorial Park CemeterySite · listed 2025Ebenezer ChurchBuilding · listed 2026

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Huntington’s post office has been open since 1871. Nine other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Guyandotte
1810–1912
Cabell
1811–1882
South Landing
1830–1855
Marshall College
1869–1871
Huntington
1871–today
Vinson
1886–1886
Central City
1891–1896
Kellogg
1891–1908
Reid
1892–1905
Westmoreland
1921–1924
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AltizerAnita HeightsBeverly HillsBrownstownChancellor HillsEnslow Park PlaceGaylersvilleGuyandotteHarveytownMarcum TerraceNorthcott CourtPark HillsReidRidgewoodStamford ParkWashington SquareWest HuntingtonWestmorelandWhitaker Terrace
Gone or out of use
Albert MillslocaleAltizer SchoolschoolBarnett SchoolschoolBeardsley MilllocaleBiggs ArmorymilitaryBuffington SchoolschoolC & O HospitalhospitalCabell County JailbuildingCabell SchoolschoolCammack Elementary SchoolschoolCammack Middle SchoolschoolCammack SchoolschoolChurch of Jesus ChristchurchEast High SchoolschoolEmmons SchoolschoolEnsign SchoolschoolFairfield SchoolschoolFairfield Stadiumpark
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Huntington
Bethel Memorial ParkBoulevard Memorial ParkConfederateForest Lawn Memorial GardensGuyandotteHarveytownHighlandSpring HillWoodmere Memorial Park

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

The story

How Huntington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Huntington.

Read it all →

Discounting the period of French ownership, the land that was part of Guyandotte and later Huntington was originally part of the 28,628-acre (115.85 km2) French and Indian War veteran's Savage Grant. The area of greater Huntington, although situated in a Southern state, was long considered a western city in what was then the Colony of Virginia since the first permanent settlements were founded in 1775 in defiance of British injunctions against settlements west of the Alleghenies in the vicinity of Holderby's Landing.

Chapters19th century20th century21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Huntington, 1810 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1810Post officeThe Guyandotte post office opens
  3. 1811Post officeThe Cabell post office opens
  4. 1830Post officeThe South Landing post office opens
  5. 1855Post officeThe South Landing post office closes
  6. 1882Post officeThe Cabell post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1902BuiltCarnegie Public Library is built
  10. 1902In the archiveRev, Edward Valentine Jones
  11. 1905BuiltU.S. Post Office and Courthouse is built
  12. 1910In the archiveHuntington, W. Va
  13. 1912Post officeThe Guyandotte post office closes
  14. 1924BuiltDouglass Junior and Senior High School is built
  15. 1930In the archiveC and O. Building at night, Huntington, W. Va (66553)
  16. 1936Born hereHal Greer is born here
  17. 1948BuiltChesapeake and Ohio 1308 Steam Locomotive is built
  18. 1950Born hereBrad Dourif is born here
  19. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 86,353
  20. 1971Born hereThomas Massie is born here
By decade

Huntington, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s6 items
Rev, Edward Valentine Jones1902Rev, Edward Valentine JonesRev. John Smith Lightbourne1902Rev. John Smith LightbourneRev. Norman Fitzhugh Marshall1902Rev. Norman Fitzhugh MarshallHuntington, W. Va1910Huntington, W. VaPostcardHuntingtonWVGuyandotteRiver19121912PostcardHuntingtonWVGuyandotteRiver1912PostcardPost Office1914Post OfficePostcard
1930s11 items
C and O. Building at night, Huntington, W. Va (66553)c. 1930C and O. Building at night, Huntington, W. Va (66553)PostcardCabell County Court House, Huntington, W. Va (70552)c. 1930Cabell County Court House, Huntington, W. Va (70552)PostcardFairfield Stadium, Huntington, W. Va (66551)c. 1930Fairfield Stadium, Huntington, W. Va (66551)PostcardMarshall College, main building, Huntington, W. Va (66555)c. 1930Marshall College, main building, Huntington, W. Va (6…PostcardMayflower Super Dairy Store, Huntingon's Finest Dairy Stores - Huntington, W. Va. - The We Will city - jewel city of th…c. 1930Mayflower Super Dairy Store, Huntingon's Finest Dairy…PostcardOhio River Bridge, Huntington, W. Va (66556)c. 1930Ohio River Bridge, Huntington, W. Va (66556)PostcardOhio River Bridge, Huntington, W. Va (70555)c. 1930Ohio River Bridge, Huntington, W. Va (70555)PostcardSt. Mary's Hospital, Huntington, W. Va (66557)c. 1930St. Mary's Hospital, Huntington, W. Va (66557)PostcardLooking west on Fourth Avenue during the 1937 Flood (cropped)1937Looking west on Fourth Avenue during the 1937 Flood (…Looking west on Fourth Avenue during the 1937 Flood1937Looking west on Fourth Avenue during the 1937 FloodOhio River flood of 19371937Ohio River flood of 1937
1940s–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
Today5 recent
RCByrdBridge-Huntington-WV2007RCByrdBridge-Huntington-WVPullman Square2007Pullman SquareOld barge on Ohio River2007Old barge on Ohio RiverRitterParkFountain2006RitterParkFountainAG Jenkins grave2006AG Jenkins grave
On the map

Huntington on the map, 1901 to 1985

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

Huntington on the 1901 USGS mapHuntington on the 1976 USGS mapHuntington on the 1985 USGS map1901Guyandot 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 Huntington.

Every building

Huntington, building by building, 1884–1904

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Huntington fire insurance map, 1884, sheet 11884Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Rev, Edward Valentine Jones
Retake this viewRev, Edward Valentine Jones, 1902

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Huntington, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 86,353

Peaked at 86,353 in 1950; 46,842 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

62 famous people were born in Huntington

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Brad DourifAmerican actor · b. 1950
Thomas MassieAmerican politician · b. 1971
O. J. MayoAmerican basketball player · b. 1987
Hal GreerAmerican basketball player · b. 1936
Aaron StatonAmerican actor · b. 1980
Dwight MorrowAmerican politician · b. 1873
Help out

Finish Huntington’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewRev, Edward Valentine Jones: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Ceredo4 historic placesB+Barboursville3 historic placesA−

Questions about Huntington’s history

What year was Huntington founded?

The Huntington post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Huntington rank for history?

Huntington is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #24 of 61 in West Virginia. 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 Huntington?

37 listings: 25 buildings, among them the Harvey House (listed 1972, the first), 6 historic districts with 267 contributing buildings, 1 site, 3 structures, and 2 objects. 296 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Huntington?

30% of Huntington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1955.

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 (22), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (37), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.