Moundsville’s post office opened in 1853, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns · #21 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 76 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1850.
From Moundsville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Moundsville began
When was Moundsville founded?
1853
The Moundsville post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Grave Creek (1813), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 445 in 18502020 census: 8,093173 years
How historic is Moundsville?
A−
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Moundsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Moundsville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Moundsville is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #21 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 Moundsville’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 Moundsville’s 99.1 sits above most of its state (71% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 78 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±7.3 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 Moundsville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Moundsville, census by census
Peaked at 15,163 in 1960; 8,093 people lived here in 2020.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Moundsville’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Moundsville, building by building, 1893–1923
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.
In 1771, English colonists Samuel and James Tomlinson built a cabin at what later became Moundsville, although they did not overwinter; in fact, they left for several years after attacks by Native Americans. Elizabethtown, as Tomlinson's community was called, was incorporated in 1830 and would become the county seat upon the creation of Marshall County in 1835. Nearby, the town of Mound City was incorporated in 1832. The two towns combined in 1865.
In 1852, a line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opened, connecting the eastern rail network with the Ohio and Mississippi riverboat system; Moundsville was an important port until 1861, when the Civil War shut down the river system and caused major damage to the railroad.
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.
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Moundsville’s post office has been open since 1853. Another post office, Grave Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Grave Creek
1813–1853
Moundsville
1853–today
18101920today
Gone or out of use
Alexander MinemineFirst Ward SchoolschoolFort TomlinsonmilitaryMarshall County JailbuildingMoundsville Christian SchoolschoolNorth Street MissionchurchPark View Elementary SchoolschoolSanford Elementary SchoolschoolTrinity Protestant Episcopal ChurchchurchWest Virginia State Penitentiarybuilding
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Moundsville
First StreetMount Rose
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Moundsville’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The Moundsville post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Moundsville rank for history?
Moundsville is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #21 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 Moundsville?
4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Ferrell-Holt House (listed 1987, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Moundsville Commercial Historic District and the West Virginia State Penitentiary, with 76 contributing buildings. 78 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Moundsville?
43% of Moundsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1947.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
1848
1899
