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History · Oakvale

Oakvale’s post office opened in 1892, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1932 on and the census since 1910.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Oakvale began

When was Oakvale founded?

1892

The Oakvale post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Frenchville (1856), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 278 in 19102020 census: 133134 years
Founding year: the first Oakvale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Oakvale’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Oakvale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oakvale’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Oakvale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oakvale.

Read it all →

Oakvale was originally known as "Frenchville" after an early settler, Captain Napoleon French. It was renamed Oakvale after the dense stands of oak trees that grew in the valley. The town incorporated in 1907.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Oakvale, 1856 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Frenchville post office opens
  3. 1892Post officeThe Frenchville post office closes
  4. 1892Post officeThe Oakvale post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1965Post officeThe Oakvale post office closes
By decade

Oakvale, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Oakvale-train-station-wv2018Oakvale-train-station-wvOakvale-WV112-sign-wv2018Oakvale-WV112-sign-wvOakvale-Town-Hall-wv2018Oakvale-Town-Hall-wvOakvale-RR-tracks-wv2018Oakvale-RR-tracks-wvOakvale-NW-caboose-wv2018Oakvale-NW-caboose-wvOakvale, West Virginia2016Oakvale, West VirginiaWVMap-doton-Oakvale2004WVMap-doton-Oakvale
On the map

Oakvale on the map, 1932 to 1977

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

Oakvale on the 1932 USGS mapOakvale on the 1965 USGS mapOakvale on the 1977 USGS map1932Narrows 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 Oakvale.

People over time

Oakvale, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 292

Between 121 and 292 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Oakvale had its own post office from 1892 to 1965. Another post office, Frenchville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Frenchville
1856–1892
Oakvale
1892–1965
18501940today

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

Questions about Oakvale’s history

What year was Oakvale founded?

The Oakvale post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (7), Wikipedia, 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.