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B+History
History · Parsons

Parsons’ post office opened in 1889, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Tucker County Courthouse and Jail, the Western Maryland Depot and the Tucker County Bank Building. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1900.

1889first post office
3on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Parsons’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Parsons began

When was Parsons founded?

1889

The Parsons post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, June (1888) and Chaseboro (1895), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 618 in 19002020 census: 1,327137 years

How historic is Parsons?

B+

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Parsons’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Parsons is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Parsons’ overall grade.
Founding era1889, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194023.1% of homes (±4.9) · typical WV town 13.0% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register3 listings, 4 historic buildings, 27.6 per 10,000 residents · typical WV town 29.6 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 65%
NewerOlder

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 Parsons’ 27.6 sits near the middle of its state (61% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±4.9 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 Parsons’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,077 in 1940; 1,327 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Parsons, and 1 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19084 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1995. Watch Parsons change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Parsons’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewElk Lick Reservoir - Fernow Experimenta…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Parsons, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,077

Peaked at 2,077 in 1940; 1,327 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Parsons’s post office has been open since 1889. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

June
1888–1889
Parsons
1889–today
Chaseboro
1895–1896
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Davisville
Gone or out of use
Parsons Elementary SchoolschoolParsons High SchoolschoolTucker Christian AcademyschoolTucker County Hospitalhospital

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

The story

How Parsons came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Parsons.

Read it all →

Parsons was named for Ward Parsons, described by one source as having once owned the land on which the town was built, and by another as having been an aged wilderness pioneer in the area. The West Virginia Central and Pittsburg Railway was built into Parsons in 1888, which caused the town to boom by the 1890s. The railway was later merged into the Western Maryland Railway and provided passenger train service until the 1950s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Parsons, 1888 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe June post office opens
  3. 1889Post officeThe June post office closes
  4. 1889Post officeThe Parsons post office opens
  5. 1895Post officeThe Chaseboro post office opens
  6. 1896Post officeThe Chaseboro post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1934Born hereHarry Purkey is born here
  10. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 2,077
By decade

Parsons, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
Elk Lick Reservoir - Fernow Experimental ForestDate?Elk Lick Reservoir - Fernow Experimental ForestParsons Nursery, South side of U.S. Route 219Date?Parsons Nursery, South side of U.S. Route 219
Today15 recent
VA Tucker County Clinic 20212021VA Tucker County Clinic 2021Tucker County Health Department 20212021Tucker County Health Department 2021Shavers Fork Parsons WV 2021a2021Shavers Fork Parsons WV 2021aParsons WV memorial plaza 20212021Parsons WV memorial plaza 2021Parsons WV Post Office 20212021Parsons WV Post Office 2021Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church Parsons WV 20212021Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church Parsons WV 2021Five Rivers Library 20212021Five Rivers Library 2021First Street Parsons WV 2021b2021First Street Parsons WV 2021bFirst Street Parsons WV 2021a2021First Street Parsons WV 2021a2017-07-30 14 05 24 View north along West Virginia State Route 72 (Chestnut Street) at Main Street in20172017-07-30 14 05 24 View north along West Virginia St…Western Maryland Depot2014Western Maryland DepotParsonsWVA2008ParsonsWVAShavers Fork2006Shavers ForkBlack Fork2006Black ForkWVMap-doton-Parons2004WVMap-doton-Parons
On the map

Parsons on the map, 1908 to 1995

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

Parsons on the 1908 USGS mapParsons on the 1926 USGS mapParsons on the 1968 USGS mapParsons on the 1995 USGS map1908Parsons 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 Parsons.

Every building

Parsons, building by building, 1921

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 sheet.

Parsons fire insurance map, 1921, sheet 11921Sheet 1 of 5
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Elk Lick Reservoir - Fernow Experimental Forest
Retake this viewElk Lick Reservoir - Fernow Experimental Forest

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Parsons

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Tucker County Courthouse and Jail
Tucker County Courthouse and JailWestern Maryland DepotTucker County Bank Building
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque Revival2
Late Victorian2
Flemish Renaissance1
Stick Style1
Tucker County Courthouse and JailFlemish Renaissance
Western Maryland DepotLate Victorian
Tucker County Bank BuildingLate Victorian

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

Questions about Parsons’ history

What year was Parsons founded?

The Parsons post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Parsons rank for history?

Parsons is more historic than 65% 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.

What is on the National Register in Parsons?

Three places: the Tucker County Courthouse and Jail (listed 1984), the Western Maryland Depot (1996) and the Tucker County Bank Building (2010).

How old are the homes in Parsons?

23% of Parsons’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1970.

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 (16), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.