Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #10 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it
29 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Martinsburg Shops, a National Historic Landmark, and ten historic districts with 1,426 buildings between them. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
Martinsburg dates its founding to 1778 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Martinsburg is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #10 of 61 in West Virginia. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Martinsburg’s 772 sits above most of its state (89% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1,459 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 7Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Martinsburg.
Martinsburg was established by an act of the Virginia General Assembly that was adopted in December 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. Founder Major General Adam Stephen named the gateway town to the Shenandoah Valley along Tuscarora Creek in honor of Colonel Thomas Bryan Martin, a nephew of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Martinsburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The town of Martinsburg is contained within the following boundaries, to wit : Beginning on the middle of the county bridge crossing the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, south of Green Hill Cemetery and corner to Martinsburg, Arden and Opequou districts ; thence with the line of Opequon north 11^ degrees east, 66 poles to a stake at the angle of the fence and in an original line between the land of Ezra Herring and the lot of C. Henry;
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This company was organized in October, 1861, at Martinsburg, princix)ally of* Berkeley County men, with a number from the surrounding counties. It was first stationed at Martinsburg, and acted on x)icket duty along the border, where it remained until about February 24th, 1862. From here they proceeded to and around Winchester, and afterward fell back up the valley. They next went to Strausburg and Woodstock, afterwards
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltAdam Stephen House is built
In the archiveViews in and Around Martinsburg, Virginia by A. R. Waud (Harper's Weekly, December 3, 186…
Born hereNewton Diehl Baker Jr. is born here
In the archiveThe great strike--Blockade of engines at Martinsburg, West Virginia
Born hereHarry F. Byrd is born here
In the archiveBig Lot Sale
In the archiveStone church near Martinsburg, W. VaBuiltApollo Theatre is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveMain Street
In the archiveMonument to Major - General Adam Stephen, founder of Martinsburg, W. Va (73283)
Born hereJennifer Armentrout is born here6 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2011Administration building, Baker Veterans Administratio…Postcard
2011Administration building and Bachelors Quarters, Baker…Postcard
2011Administration bldg., band stand and Nurses Quarters,…Postcard
2009West Virginia State Route 9
2009OPEQUON GOLF CLUB
2007Tuscarora-Creek-WV
2004WVMap-doton-Martinsburg
2004Civilian firefighters spray a simulated pit fire duri…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Martinsburg. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Martinsburg.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Martinsburg’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 2,190 people in 1850 to 18,777 in 2020, 8 times over.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Martinsburg’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Martinsburg’s post office has been open since 1792.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1778, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Martinsburg’s post office opened in 1792, and the census of 1850 counted 2,190 people here.
Martinsburg is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #10 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.
29 listings: 15 buildings, among them the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Martinsburg Shops (a National Historic Landmark since 2003) and the Adam Stephen House (listed 1970, the first), 13 historic districts with 1,426 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 1,459 historic buildings in all.
23% of Martinsburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1969.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (18), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (29), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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1892
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1930–1945
