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History · Red Jacket

Red Jacket’s post office opened in 1903

Most of Red Jacket was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1953.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: FatCat96 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Red Jacket began

When was Red Jacket founded?

1903

The Red Jacket post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Surosa (1935), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 525123 years
Founding year: the first Red Jacket post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Red Jacket’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 Red Jacket are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Red Jacket’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Red Jacket’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Red Jacket, in brief

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

Red Jacket is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 525 at the 2020 census (down from 581 at the 2010 census). The community was named for Red Jacket, a Seneca chief.

Its first post office opened in 1903. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 581 to 525 (-10%).

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

Timeline

Red Jacket, 1903 to 1960

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Post officeThe Red Jacket post office opens
  3. 1935Post officeThe Surosa post office opens
  4. 1936Born hereDoc Edwards is born here
  5. 1960Post officeThe Surosa post office closes
By decade

Red Jacket, decade by decade

Today1 recent
2017-07-22 09 46 09 View north along West Virginia State Route 65 at Mate Creek Road (Mingo County Route 6) in20172017-07-22 09 46 09 View north along West Virginia St…
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Red Jacket’s post office has been open since 1903. Another post office, Surosa, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Red Jacket
1903–today
Surosa
1935–1960
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Surosa
Gone or out of use
Red Jacket Elementary SchoolschoolRed Jacket Schoolschool

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.

Matewan1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Red Jacket’s history

What year was Red Jacket founded?

The Red Jacket post office opened in 1903, 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 (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.