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History · Piedmont

Piedmont’s post office opened in 1855, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Henry Glassaway Davis House. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1870.

1855first post office
1on the National Register
47%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Piedmont’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Piedmont began

When was Piedmont founded?

1855

The Piedmont post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,366 in 18702020 census: 718171 years
Founding year: the first Piedmont post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Piedmont’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1892 to 1920, drew every building in Piedmont.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,835 in 1920; 718 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Piedmont’s homes were built before 1944.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Piedmont’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Piedmont’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 viewFirst National Bank: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Piedmont, building by building, 1892–1920

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 year, then a sheet.

Piedmont fire insurance map, 1892, sheet 11892Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

People over time

Piedmont, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,835

Peaked at 2,835 in 1920; 718 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

The story

How Piedmont came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Piedmont.

Read it all →

The Town of Piedmont is situated in the Allegheny Front mountain range along the North Branch of the Potomac River. A century prior to the chartering of Piedmont, the area was opened for European settlement with the creation of Hampshire County in 1754 by the colonial government in Virginia. The region was the scene of hostile interactions between European settlers and pro-French Native Americans during the French and Indian War. Owing to its location and natural resources, the Piedmont area attracted German, Scotch-Irish, Swiss, English, and Italian immigrants, making the region more diverse than the primarily English-American Hampshire County. These cultural differences within the county, as well as growing population in the years leading up to the Civil War would later contribute to the formation of a new county.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Piedmont, 1855 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe Piedmont post office opens
  3. 1889Born hereLeslie Thrasher is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archiveFirst National Bank
  6. 1900Born hereDon Redman is born here
  7. 1910In the archiveThe free sewing machine demonstration, Oct. 15, 1910 at Piedmont, W. Va. Our dealer Mr. J…
  8. 1919On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 2,835
By decade

Piedmont, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s2 items
First National Bank1900First National BankThe free sewing machine demonstration, Oct. 15, 1910 at Piedmont, W. Va. Our dealer Mr. J. T. Kooken and enthusiastic a…1910The free sewing machine demonstration, Oct. 15, 1910 …
1920s–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
Today4 recent
2016-06-18 07 22 42 View east down the North Branch Potomac River from the Piedmont-Westernport Bridge between Piedmont…20162016-06-18 07 22 42 View east down the North Branch P…2016-06-18 07 22 27 View west up the North Branch Potomac River from the Piedmont-Westernport Bridge between Piedmont, …20162016-06-18 07 22 27 View west up the North Branch Pot…Piedmont, WV downtown2014Piedmont, WV downtownHenryGlassawayDavisHouse20122012HenryGlassawayDavisHouse2012
On the map

Piedmont on the map, 1919 to 1996

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

Piedmont on the 1919 USGS mapPiedmont on the 1922 USGS mapPiedmont on the 1981 USGS mapPiedmont on the 1996 USGS map1919Elk Garden 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 Piedmont.

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.

First National Bank
Retake this viewFirst National Bank, 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Piedmont

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
2008
Henry Glassaway Davis House
Henry Glassaway Davis House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Second Empire1
Henry Glassaway Davis HouseSecond Empire

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Piedmont

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

See all →
D
Don RedmanAmerican musician · b. 1900
L
Leslie ThrasherAmerican illustrator · b. 1889

Questions about Piedmont’s history

What year was Piedmont founded?

The Piedmont post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Piedmont?

One place: the Henry Glassaway Davis House (listed 2008).

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), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), 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), 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.