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History · Peterstown

Peterstown’s post office opened in 1816, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1932 on and old-book passages.

1816first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Idawriter · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Peterstown began

When was Peterstown founded?

1816

The Peterstown post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 448210 years
Founding year: the first Peterstown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Peterstown’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 Peterstown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1816: 210 years of Peterstown.Old housesHalf of Peterstown’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Peterstown’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Peterstown’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 so far

Peterstown, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Peterstown yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Peterstown is a town in Monroe County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 456 at the 2020 census. The town was named after Christian Peters, a pioneer settler. The town is the site of the 1928 discovery of the 34.48 carat (6.896 g) Jones Diamond by Grover C. Jones and his son, William "Punch" Jones.

Its first post office opened in 1816. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 653 to 448 (-31%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Peterstown in 1916

Passages that mention Peterstown, cut from the printed page as they were published.

PETERS Christian Peters (1760-1837) was a native of Rockingham and settled on the R. H. Fleshman place near Peterstown about 1789. He was a substantial and prominent citizen and the founder of Peterstown, to which place he removed after the village took its rise. C: Conrad (d. 1850) (Clara Snidow— …
A history of Monroe county, West Virginia1916Read the page →
Read the text

PETERS Christian Peters (1760-1837) was a native of Rockingham and settled on the R. H. Fleshman place near Peterstown about 1789. He was a substantial and prominent citizen and the founder of Peterstown, to which place he removed after the village took its rise. C: Conrad (d. 1850) (Clara Snidow— John (1788-1868) (Cynthia Clark, 1813)— Rhoda (b. 1798) (Chas.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Peterstown, decade by decade

Today4 recent
2017-07-21 13 23 08 View north along West Virginia State Route 12 (Water Street) at U.S. Route 219 (Market Street) in20172017-07-21 13 23 08 View north along West Virginia St…Water Street2016Water StreetBallard, WV, USA2016Ballard, WV, USAWVMap-doton-Peterstown2004WVMap-doton-Peterstown
On the map

Peterstown on the map, 1932 to 1984

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

Peterstown on the 1932 USGS mapPeterstown on the 1965 USGS mapPeterstown on the 1976 USGS mapPeterstown on the 1984 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 Peterstown.

Famous people

Famous people close to Peterstown

Nobody well known was born in Peterstown itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
John Forbes NashAmerican mathematician and economist · b. 1928
Sylvia BurwellFormer United States Secretary of Health and Hu… · b. 1965
John B. FloydAmerican politician · b. 1806
Norman I. PlatnickAmerican arachnologist · b. 1951
John Davis ChandlerAmerican actor · b. 1935
C
Charlie BarnettAmerican actor and comedian · b. 1954
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Peterstown’s post office has been open since 1816.

Gone or out of use
Peterstown High Schoolschool

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

Questions about Peterstown’s history

What year was Peterstown founded?

The Peterstown post office opened in 1816, 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 (4), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.