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CHistory
History · Rainelle

Rainelle’s post office opened in 1910, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1920.

1910first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Rainelle’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Rainelle began

When was Rainelle founded?

1910

The Rainelle post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Sewell Valley (1830) and East Rainelle (1927), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 566 in 19202020 census: 1,190116 years

How historic is Rainelle?

C

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Rainelle’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rainelle is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rainelle’s overall grade.
Founding era1910, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194027.0% of homes (±8.0) · typical WV town 13.0% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WV town 29.6 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
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 Rainelle’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 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 Rainelle’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.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,408 in 1950; 1,190 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Rainelle.On the map since 19123 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1976. Watch Rainelle change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rainelle’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Rainelle, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,408

Peaked at 2,408 in 1950; 1,190 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Rainelle’s post office has been open since 1910. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sewell Valley
1830–1924
Rainelle
1910–today
East Rainelle
1927–1968
18301930today
Gone or out of use
Rainelle Elementary-Junior High Schoolschool

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

The story

How Rainelle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rainelle.

Read it all →

The valley and community that contain and predates Rainelle is named Sewell Valley after Stephen Sewell, a scout that settled in the area in the 1750s. The community west of the Meadow River first applied for the name Rainielle in honor of the Rainielle family but was turned down by the Post Office Department. They adopted the name Rainelle in 1909. Thomas W. Raine and his brother John moved to the location from Pennsylvania in 1906 to harvest a large stand of hardwoods for building homes, etc. Their Meadow River Lumber Company operated for 60 years, and at one time was the largest hardwood sawmill in the world. In 1970, the owners sold it to Georgia-Pacific Corporation, which tore it down in 1975.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Rainelle in 1917

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

The town of Rainelle was incorporated April 25, 1913. Mr. J. W. Gray, Who from the first had been in full charge of the saws, was the first mayor. He was succeeded by Mr. A. D. Pickering, the alert and aggressive general superintendent of the company. Mr. Thomas Lefler, who handles the throttle of …
History of Greenbrier County1917Read the page →
Read the text

The town of Rainelle was incorporated April 25, 1913. Mr. J. W. Gray, Who from the first had been in full charge of the saws, was the first mayor. He was succeeded by Mr. A. D. Pickering, the alert and aggressive general superintendent of the company. Mr. Thomas Lefler, who handles the throttle of the big Corliss engine and sees that the heart of the big plant is always beating, is the present mayor. The council is composed of E. C. Shaffer, W. H. Kline, W. G. Arbogast, W. M. Mytinger,

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.

Timeline

Rainelle, 1830 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830Post officeThe Sewell Valley post office opens
  3. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - West Virginia - Greenbrier County - ED 13…
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910Post officeThe Rainelle post office opens
  6. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1918Born hereArnold Carter is born here
  8. 1924Post officeThe Sewell Valley post office closes
  9. 1927Post officeThe East Rainelle post office opens
  10. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 2,408
  11. 1968Post officeThe East Rainelle post office closes
  12. 1969In the archiveMarines Examine an Enemy Rice Cache, 1969
By decade

Rainelle, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - West Virginia - Greenbrier County - ED 13-26, ED 13-27, ED 13-2818501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - West …
1960s1 item
Marines Examine an Enemy Rice Cache, 19691969Marines Examine an Enemy Rice Cache, 1969
1970s–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
Today16 recent
Rainelle 2017 by Lukas Ray2017Rainelle 2017 by Lukas RayNPS new-river-gorge-map2017NPS new-river-gorge-mapBookRIARNG Soldiers Assist in West Virginia Flood Clean-Up Efforts 160627-Z-VP195-0022016RIARNG Soldiers Assist in West Virginia Flood Clean-U…Congressional Record - 2016-07-062016Congressional Record - 2016-07-06BookWest Virginia Guardsmen provide relief for Greenbrier County 120701-F-NH898-1372012West Virginia Guardsmen provide relief for Greenbrier…West Virginia Guardsmen provide relief for Greenbrier County 120701-F-NH898-1122012West Virginia Guardsmen provide relief for Greenbrier…West Virginia Guardsmen provide relief for Greenbrier County 120701-F-NH898-0762012West Virginia Guardsmen provide relief for Greenbrier…Rainelle, West Virginia2012Rainelle, West VirginiaRainelle, West Virginia2012Rainelle, West VirginiaRainelle, West Virginia2012Rainelle, West VirginiaArmy National Guard deivers water to Greenbrier County 120703-F-NH898-1312012Army National Guard deivers water to Greenbrier Count…Army National Guard deivers water to Greenbrier County 120703-F-NH898-1272012Army National Guard deivers water to Greenbrier Count…Army National Guard deivers water to Greenbrier County 120703-F-NH898-1252012Army National Guard deivers water to Greenbrier Count…2010 Census Public Use Microdata Area Reference Map for Greenbrier, Nicholas, Summers, Monroe & Pocahontas Counties, We…20102010 Census Public Use Microdata Area Reference Map f…BookCSX Coal in WV2009CSX Coal in WVWVMap-doton-Rainelle2004WVMap-doton-Rainelle
On the map

Rainelle on the map, 1912 to 1976

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

Rainelle on the 1912 USGS mapRainelle on the 1969 USGS mapRainelle on the 1976 USGS map1912Meadow Creek 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 Rainelle.

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - West Virginia - Greenbrier County - ED 13-26, ED 13-27, ED 13-28
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - West Virginia - Greenbrier County - ED 13-26, ED 13-27, ED 13-28, 1850

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Rainelle’s history

What year was Rainelle founded?

The Rainelle post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Rainelle rank for history?

Rainelle is more historic than 30% 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.

How old are the homes in Rainelle?

27% of Rainelle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1971.

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 (18), 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 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.