Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Raleigh

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Raleigh

Raleigh’s post office opened in 1893, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1913 on.

1893first post office
0on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Raleigh’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Raleigh began

When was Raleigh founded?

1893

The Raleigh post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Raleigh Court House (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 245133 years
Founding year: the first Raleigh post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Raleigh’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Raleigh’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19136 editions of the USGS map, 1913 to 1989. Watch Raleigh change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Raleigh’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Raleigh’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 viewVIEW OF THE TOWN OF RALEIGH, WEST VIRGI…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Raleigh, in brief

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

Raleigh is an unincorporated community and coal town in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. Raleigh is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of downtown Beckley. Raleigh has a post office with ZIP code 25911. The community was named for its location within Raleigh County. The Raleigh Coal and Coke Company was the primary mining company within this location.

Its first post office opened in 1893.

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

On the map

Raleigh on the map, 1913 to 1989

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

Raleigh on the 1913 USGS mapRaleigh on the 1929 USGS mapRaleigh on the 1932 USGS mapRaleigh on the 1969 USGS mapRaleigh on the 1976 USGS mapRaleigh on the 1989 USGS map1913Beckley 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 Raleigh.

Timeline

Raleigh, 1851 to 1974

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Raleigh Court House post office opens
  3. 1893Post officeThe Raleigh Court House post office closes
  4. 1893Post officeThe Raleigh post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1913On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1915Born hereWilliam M. Banks is born here
  8. 1942Born hereLonnie Warwick is born here
  9. 1974In the archiveVIEW OF THE TOWN OF RALEIGH, WEST VIRGINIA, A SUBURB OF BECKLEY SHOWING SOME OF THE HOMES…
By decade

Raleigh, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s1 item
VIEW OF THE TOWN OF RALEIGH, WEST VIRGINIA, A SUBURB OF BECKLEY SHOWING SOME OF THE HOMES AND A PORTION OF THE... - NAR…1974VIEW OF THE TOWN OF RALEIGH, WEST VIRGINIA, A SUBURB …
1980s–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
Today2 recent
Raleigh Coal and Cole Company2015Raleigh Coal and Cole CompanyRaleigh WV postmark2012Raleigh WV postmark
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.

VIEW OF THE TOWN OF RALEIGH, WEST VIRGINIA, A SUBURB OF BECKLEY SHOWING SOME OF THE HOMES AND A PORTION OF THE... - NAR…
Retake this viewVIEW OF THE TOWN OF RALEIGH, WEST VIRGINIA, A SUBURB OF BECKLEY SHOWING SOME OF THE HOMES AND A PORTION OF THE... - NAR…, 1974

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Raleigh

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

See all →
L
Lonnie WarwickAmerican football player · b. 1942
W
William M. BanksAmerican flying ace · b. 1915
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Raleigh’s post office has been open since 1893. Another post office, Raleigh Court House, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Raleigh Court House
1851–1893
Raleigh
1893–today
18501940today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Beckley5 historic placesA−

Questions about Raleigh’s history

What year was Raleigh founded?

The Raleigh post office opened in 1893, 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 (3), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.