Its Register listings are the Cain House and the Pleasants County Courthouse. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1827.
History grade
What drives St. Marys’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Marys is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Marys’ overall grade.
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 St. Marys’ 9.2 sits near the middle of its state (54% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 points). Two sources give 1849.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 St. Marys’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 2,443 in 1960; 1,831 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Marys’ Wikipedia page.
On the map
St. Marys on the map, 1906 to 2002
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Marys. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906St Marys 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 St. Marys.
The story so far
St. Marys, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of St. Marys yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
St. Marys is a city in and the county seat of Pleasants County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,847 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Parkersburg–Vienna metropolitan area. St. Marys was established in 1849 by Alexander Creel, who is said to have had a vision of Mary while passing the townsite by boat on the Ohio River. Train tracks run down the middle of 2nd Street in St. Marys, and freight trains running through the middle of downtown St. Marys are a common sight. It is one of the few remaining towns in the United States where freight trains actually share city streets with automotive traffic.
St. Marys was established in 1849. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,860 in 2010, 1,831 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
St. Marys, 1827 to 1996
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Grape Island, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Grape Island
1827–1924
Saint Marys
1850–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Grape IslandSaint Marys
Gone or out of use
Park Schoolschool
1cemetery inside St. Marys
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about St. Marys’ history
What year was St. Marys founded?
In 1849, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. St. Marys’ post office opened in 1827, and the census of 1880 counted 350 people here.
How does St. Marys rank for history?
St. Marys is more historic than 82% 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 St. Marys?
Two places: the Cain House (listed 1980) and the Pleasants County Courthouse (2004).
How old are the homes in St. Marys?
26% of St. Marys’ 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 1958.
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 (2), 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) 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.
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