The Monongah post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1891. Another post office, Briertown (1876), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,786 in 19002020 census: 965136 years
How historic is Monongah?
B−
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Monongah post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1891.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Monongah’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Monongah is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Monongah’s overall grade.
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 Monongah’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 (±12.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1891 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Monongah’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Adena and Hopewell peoples dwelt in what is now northern West Virginia 1,500–2,000+ years ago. By the time of the early European traders and settlers, the native population is thought to have been nil, decimated by the Beaver Wars.
Monongah was known as Briar Town and was part of the Grant Magisterial District in 1886.
It was later known as Camdensburg, named after Johnson N. Camden, United States Senator from West Virginia (1881–1887). The Protestant Episcopal Church at Camdensburg described Camdensburg in 1889 as "a new mining and coking town which promises to be a place of some importance in a few years."
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.
The Monongah post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1891.
How does Monongah rank for history?
Monongah is more historic than 54% 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 Monongah?
58% of Monongah’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±12.0 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (1), 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) 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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