Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Generic1139 · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Reedsville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1910.
Reedsville dates its founding to 1855 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1933View of Arthurdale property. Reedsville, West Virginia
1933View of Arthurdale property. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934House. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934Barn. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934Completed house. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934Completed house. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934Completed house. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934Completed house. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934Community center. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934Completed house. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934House under construction. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934Exterior of house. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934Children's room. Model house. Reedsville, West Virgin…
1934Living room. Model house. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934Living room. Model house. Reedsville, West Virginia
1934Kitchen in model house. Reedsville, West Virginia
1935Reedsville, West VirginiaEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Reedsville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Reedsville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Reedsville.
Reedsville was named for James Reed, who moved to the area in 1827 and owned land covering most of the future townsite. The first house in the community was built in 1855, and the town was named in 1856. Reedsville was incorporated in 1906.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Reedsville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
tract of woodland — went to Masontown and manufactured lumber for nearly two years on Bull Run. In 1905, he organized the Gibson Lumber Company, and supplied the M. & K. Railroad Company with lumber for the construction of their railroad from Reedsville to Rowlesburg. In 1906, he purchased the interesits of A. K. and L. M. Jenkins, J. V. Gibson and L. W. Cobun, and for six years, thereafter, he and his brother Bert T. Gibson ran the business. In July, 1912, H. T. Lincoln purchased Bert T. Gibson's interest in the business,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
leaving college, he formed a partnership with John Garner in the lumber business at Irona, but two years afterwards they were burned out. In 1900, he went to Tunnelton and for five years was with his father in the merchandising business. He then came to Reedsville and entered into a partnership with his brother, James C, who had started the big lumber plant at Kanes Creek, and had already supplied the M. & K. Railroad Company with a large quantity of their building material for the construction of their road. Since that time, more than
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyIn the archiveView of Arthurdale property. Reedsville, West VirginiaNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Reedsville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 208 and 593 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Reedsville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1855, according to Wikidata. the census of 1910 counted 208 people here.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the Library of Congress (17), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
