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History · New Cumberland

New Cumberland dates to 1839, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the First National Bank-Graham Building and the Marshall House. Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1907 on.

1839founded
2on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From New Cumberland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How New Cumberland began

When was New Cumberland founded?

1839

New Cumberland dates its founding to 1839 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1845.

2020 census: 1,020187 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1845.The full story ↓

What stands out about New Cumberland’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1839: 187 years of New Cumberland.Old housesHalf of New Cumberland’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start New Cumberland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Cumberland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewClifton Sewer Pipe yard: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

New Cumberland, 1839 to 1923

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839
    FoundingNew Cumberland is established
  3. 1845Post officeThe New Cumberland post office opens
  4. 1889Post officeThe Chelsea post office opens
  5. 1891Post officeThe Chelsea post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Born hereHugh S. Jenkins is born here
  8. 1907In the archiveClifton Sewer Pipe yard
  9. 1923In the archiveNew Cumberland WV Presby PHS675
The story

How New Cumberland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of New Cumberland.

Read it all →

Pioneer George Chapman settled in the area of present-day New Cumberland in 1783 or 1784 and founded Fort Chapman. In 1839, John Cuppy laid out a town at the site and named it Vernon, although it was also referred to as Cuppytown. Cuppy changed the name to New Cumberland per the requests of the earliest land buyers, naming it after Cumberland, Maryland. The town was incorporated by the West Virginia Legislature in 1872.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

New Cumberland, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1920s3 items
Clifton Sewer Pipe yard1907Clifton Sewer Pipe yardUpper and Lower Clay Mines at Etna Plant in1907Upper and Lower Clay Mines at Etna Plant inNew Cumberland WV Presby PHS6751923New Cumberland WV Presby PHS675
1930s–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
Today3 recent
1000 Ridge Avenue in20121000 Ridge Avenue inNew Cumberland, West Virginia2008New Cumberland, West VirginiaWVMap-doton-NewCumberland2004WVMap-doton-NewCumberland
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.

Clifton Sewer Pipe yard
Retake this viewClifton Sewer Pipe yard, 1907

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in New Cumberland

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2000
First National Bank-Graham Building
First National Bank-Graham BuildingMarshall House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century: Commercial Style1
Queen Anne1
First National Bank-Graham BuildingLate 19th and Early 20th Century: Commercial Style
Marshall HouseQueen Anne

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

New Cumberland’s post office has been open since 1845. Another post office, Chelsea, opened and closed inside today’s town.

New Cumberland
1845–today
Chelsea
1889–1891
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BlackhorseChelsea
Gone or out of use
New Cumberland Elementary Schoolschool
1cemetery inside New Cumberland
New Cumberland

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

Questions about New Cumberland’s history

What year was New Cumberland founded?

In 1839, according to Wikidata. New Cumberland’s post office opened in 1845.

What is on the National Register in New Cumberland?

Two places: the First National Bank-Graham Building (listed 2000) and the Marshall House (2001).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.