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C+History
History · Nitro

Nitro’s post office opened in 1918, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #42 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it

Its Register listing is the West Virginia Schools for the Colored Deaf & Blind. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1940.

1918first post office
1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Nitro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Nitro began

When was Nitro founded?

1918

The Nitro post office opened in 1918, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sattes (1883), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 2,983 in 19402020 census: 6,624108 years

How historic is Nitro?

C+

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Nitro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Nitro’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nitro is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #42 of 61 in West Virginia. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nitro’s overall grade.
Founding era1918, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194023.0% of homes (±6.6) · typical WV town 13.0% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 1.5 per 10,000 residents · typical WV town 29.6 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 39%
NewerOlder
West Virginia towns of 2,500+ (61)Ahead of 32%

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 Nitro’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (37% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±6.6 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 Nitro’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19094 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1971. Watch Nitro change.Old housesHalf of Nitro’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Nitro’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewNITRO, ON THE KANAWHA RIVER. INDUSTRIES…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Nitro on the map, 1909 to 1971

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

Nitro on the 1909 USGS mapNitro on the 1931 USGS mapNitro on the 1958 USGS mapNitro on the 1971 USGS map1909Saint Albans 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 Nitro.

The story

How Nitro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Nitro.

Read it all →

Nitro was incorporated in 1932 by Circuit Court. Its name was selected by the United States government because of the establishment there, during World War I, of a large federal plant for the manufacture of explosives. The name Nitro derives from nitrocellulose, the main ingredient in smokeless gunpowder. Daniel C. Jackling "supervised the construction and operation" of the plant, which by the time of the armistice "was producing one hundred thousand pounds of high explosives per day." The city is known as "a Living Memorial to World War I."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Nitro, 1883 to 1993

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Sattes post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1918Post officeThe Nitro post office opens
  6. 1924Post officeThe Sattes post office closes
  7. 1926Born hereLew Burdette is born here
  8. 1943Born hereBill Winter is born here
  9. 1945Born hereLarry Barnett is born here
  10. 1973In the archiveNITRO, ON THE KANAWHA RIVER. INDUSTRIES LOCATED HERE INCLUDE LARGE PLANTS OF THE MONSANTO…
  11. 1993Born hereKayla Williams is born here
By decade

Nitro, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s1 item
NITRO, ON THE KANAWHA RIVER. INDUSTRIES LOCATED HERE INCLUDE LARGE PLANTS OF THE MONSANTO CHEMICAL COMPANY AND THE... -…1973NITRO, ON THE KANAWHA RIVER. INDUSTRIES LOCATED HERE …
1980s–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
Today5 recent
Flag of2022Flag ofLiving Memorial Park2021Living Memorial ParkWV25BridgeNitro-ACBR25-091TCsign2017WV25BridgeNitro-ACBR25-091TCsignSteam plant north of Nitro, WV jeh2017Steam plant north of Nitro, WV jehWVMap-doton-Nitro2004WVMap-doton-Nitro
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.

NITRO, ON THE KANAWHA RIVER. INDUSTRIES LOCATED HERE INCLUDE LARGE PLANTS OF THE MONSANTO CHEMICAL COMPANY AND THE... -…
Retake this viewNITRO, ON THE KANAWHA RIVER. INDUSTRIES LOCATED HERE INCLUDE LARGE PLANTS OF THE MONSANTO CHEMICAL COMPANY AND THE... -…, 1973

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Nitro

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2021
West Virginia Schools for the Colored Deaf & Bl…
West Virginia Schools for the Colored Deaf & Blind
Buildings
All 1 listings
West Virginia Schools for the Colored Deaf & BlindBuilding · listed 2021

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Nitro, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00019401960198020002020Peak: 8,074

Between 2,983 and 8,074 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Nitro

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Kayla WilliamsAmerican gymnast · b. 1993
Lew BurdetteAmerican professional baseball player, pitcher,… · b. 1926
B
Bill WinterAmerican football player · b. 1943
Larry BarnettAmerican baseball umpire · b. 1945
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Nitro’s post office has been open since 1918. Another post office, Sattes, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sattes
1883–1924
Nitro
1918–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
East NitroSattes
Gone or out of use
Baker Elementary SchoolschoolEast Sattes SchoolschoolTwin City Christian AcademyschoolWest Sattes Schoolschool

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.

Cross LanesIts storyDInstitute3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJeffersonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTeays ValleyIts storyD−

Questions about Nitro’s history

What year was Nitro founded?

The Nitro post office opened in 1918, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Nitro rank for history?

Nitro is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #42 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 Nitro?

One place: the West Virginia Schools for the Colored Deaf & Blind (listed 2021).

How old are the homes in Nitro?

23% of Nitro’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1957.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (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.