Point Pleasant’s post office opened in 1805, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #17 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 93 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1870.
From Point Pleasant’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Point Pleasant began
When was Point Pleasant founded?
1805
The Point Pleasant post office opened in 1805, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Heights (1893), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 773 in 18702020 census: 4,070221 years
How historic is Point Pleasant?
A
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Point Pleasant post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Point Pleasant’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Point Pleasant is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #17 of 61 in West Virginia. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Point Pleasant’s overall grade.
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 Point Pleasant’s 240 sits above most of its state (78% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 95 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.9 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 Point Pleasant’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Point Pleasant, building by building, 1889–1922
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.
A Shawnee village known as Upper Shawneetown was established in this area before 1749, which the Shawnees called "Chinoudaista" or "Chinodahichetha".
In the second half of 1749, the French explorer Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville (1693–1759) claimed French sovereignty over the Ohio Valley, burying a lead plaque at the meeting point of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Point Pleasant. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908Point Pleasant 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 Point Pleasant.
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.
Retake this viewChrist (Episcopal) Church, Point Pleasant, W.V, 1902
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Point Pleasant’s page.
The Point Pleasant post office opened in 1805, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Point Pleasant rank for history?
Point Pleasant is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #17 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 Point Pleasant?
Three places: the Lewis-Capehart-Roseberry House (listed 1979), the Point Pleasant Historic District (1985) and the Point Pleasant Battleground (1970).
How old are the homes in Point Pleasant?
16% of Point Pleasant’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1958.
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 (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.
1902
1933
1933
1933
