History · Lubeck

Lubeck’s post office opened in 1856, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 45% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 2000.

1856first post office

0on the National Register

28%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How Lubeck began

When was Lubeck founded?

1856

The Lubeck post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,303 in 20002020 census: 1,309170 years

How historic is Lubeck?

C⁺

More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Lubeck post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

History grade

What drives Lubeck’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lubeck is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lubeck’s overall grade.

Founding era1856, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 194027.7% of homes (±24.4) · typical WV town 13.0% · U.S. 8.4%A⁻National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WV town 29.6 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 45%

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 Lubeck’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±24.4 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 Lubeck’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 Lubeck are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lubeck’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lubeck’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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The story so far

Lubeck, in brief

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

Lubeck is a census-designated place (CDP) in Wood County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metropolitan area. The population was 1,309 at the 2020 census. Though first named Watertown, postmaster Theodore Frederick Henry Slevogt in 1856 changed the name to Lubeck after his hometown in Germany.

Its first post office opened in 1856. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,311 in 2010, 1,309 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Lubeck, 1856 to 1907

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

19th century
1856Post officeThe Lubeck post office opens
20th century
1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1907Post officeThe Lubeck post office closes

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.

Add from your album

On the map

Lubeck on the map, 1906 to 1924

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

1906Belleville 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 Lubeck.

People over time

Lubeck, census by census

Between 1,303 and 1,311 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Lubeck

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

See all →

Charles G. DawesVice president of the United States from 1925 t… · b. 1865

Deron WilliamsAmerican basketball player · b. 1984

Edwin CatmullAmerican computer scientist and former presiden… · b. 1945

Paul DooleyAmerican actor, writer, and comedian · b. 1928

Morgan SpurlockAmerican filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer · b. 1970

Hobart BosworthAmerican film actor, director, writer, and prod… · b. 1867

Places that used to be

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

Lubeck had its own post office from 1856 to 1907.

Lubeck

1856–1907

18501940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Lubeck HillsWakefield

Gone or out of use

Home Wood Schoolschool

1cemetery inside Lubeck

Lubeck

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

BlennerhassettIts storyD Washington1 historic placeC⁻

Questions about Lubeck’s history

What year was Lubeck founded?

The Lubeck post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lubeck rank for history?

Lubeck is more historic than 45% 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.

How old are the homes in Lubeck?

28% of Lubeck’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±24.4 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1966.

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).

From 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.

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