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A+History
History · Sistersville

Sistersville’s post office opened in 1819, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 98% of U.S. towns. What drives it

6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 215 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1860.

1819first post office
6on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sistersville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sistersville began

When was Sistersville founded?

1819

The Sistersville post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 351 in 18602020 census: 1,412207 years

How historic is Sistersville?

A+

More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Sistersville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sistersville is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sistersville’s overall grade.
Founding era1819, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194051.3% of homes (±8.6) · typical WV town 13.0% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register6 listings, 222 historic buildings, 1,576 per 10,000 residents · typical WV town 29.6 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 98%
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 Sistersville’s 1,576 sits above most of its state (97% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 222 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% 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 (±8.6 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 Sistersville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Sistersville Historic District takes in 215 historic buildings.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1922, drew every building in Sistersville.Old housesHalf of Sistersville’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 3,238 in 1920; 1,412 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

6 listings protect 222 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
222
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Sistersville City Hall
Sistersville City HallWells InnE. A. Durham HouseSistersville Historic DistrictWells-Schaff HouseWells-Twyford House
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Italian Villa1
Academic Italianate1
Colonial Revivals1
Greek Revival1
Mid-19th Eclecticism1
Romanesque1
Sistersville City HallBuilding
Wells InnBuilding
E. A. Durham HouseItalian Villa
Sistersville Historic DistrictAcademic Italianate
Wells-Schaff HouseFederal
All 6 listings
Wells-Twyford HouseBuilding · listed 1991

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Sistersville, building by building, 1894–1922

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.

Sistersville fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Sistersville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sistersville.

Read it all →

Sistersville was named because two sisters, Sarah Wells McCoy and Delilah Wells Grier, inherited the land underlying the town from their father, pioneer Charles Wells, in 1815 and laid out the town. Wells had settled on the sandy bottomland with his second wife, Elizabeth Prather and many of his 22 children (Sarah and Delilah were the 12th and 17th; his first wife Michal Owings had died in 1783 after giving birth to 10 children). The site was called Wells Landing, Wells having previously founded Wellsville and Wellsburg along the Ohio River and having served in the Virginia legislature from Brooke County in 1793. The Virginia General Assembly created Tyler County in 1814, weeks before Wells' death, and a court session was held at Wells' house in Sistersville ("Welkin") in 1815 (the plat having included lots for a courthouse and lawyers' offices), but in 1816 voters selected Middlebourne…

ChaptersHistorical sites

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sistersville, 1819 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1819Post officeThe Sistersville post office opens
  3. 1896In the archiveSistersville 1896
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Born hereGale Bullman is born here
  6. 1902In the archiveRev. Robert Upshur Brooking
  7. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 3,238
  8. 1924Born hereDavid F. Thornton is born here
  9. 1957Born hereBill Bolling is born here
  10. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1971In the archiveWELLS INN
By decade

Sistersville, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1900s4 items
Sistersville 18961896Sistersville 1896Sistersville, West Virginia 18961896Sistersville, West Virginia 1896Rev. Robert Upshur Brooking1902Rev. Robert Upshur BrookingSt. Paul's Episcopal Church, Sistersville, W.V1902St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Sistersville, W.V
1910s–1960snothing 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
1970s1 item
WELLS INN1971WELLS INN
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
Today7 recent
A Queen Anne-style house, built in 1895, at 718 Main Street in2015A Queen Anne-style house, built in 1895, at 718 Main …Wells-Schaff House from east2013Wells-Schaff House from eastSistersville City Hall from south2013Sistersville City Hall from southSisterville WV 2 Fly OH Ferry2007Sisterville WV 2 Fly OH FerrySistersville West Virginia2006Sistersville West VirginiaSistersville Ferry2006Sistersville FerryWVMap-doton-Sistersville2004WVMap-doton-Sistersville
On the map

Sistersville on the map, 1960 to 2002

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

Sistersville on the 1960 USGS mapSistersville on the 1972 USGS mapSistersville on the 1994 USGS mapSistersville on the 2002 USGS map1960Paden City sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sistersville.

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.

Sistersville 1896
Retake this viewSistersville 1896, 1896

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Sistersville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,500190019502000Peak: 3,238

Peaked at 3,238 in 1920; 1,412 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Sistersville

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

See all →
Bill BollingAmerican politician · b. 1957
David F. ThorntonAmerican attorney and politician · b. 1924
G
Gale BullmanAmerican football player · b. 1901
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Sistersville’s post office has been open since 1819.

Gone or out of use
Sistersville High SchoolschoolSistersville Junior High Schoolschool

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

Help out

Finish Sistersville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSistersville 1896: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Sistersville’s history

What year was Sistersville founded?

The Sistersville post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Sistersville rank for history?

Sistersville is more historic than 98% 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.

What is on the National Register in Sistersville?

6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Sistersville City Hall (listed 1972, the first), and 1 historic district, the Sistersville Historic District, with 215 contributing buildings. 222 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Sistersville?

51% of Sistersville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.6 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1938.

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.