The Tornado post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Upper Falls Of Coal (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,081145 years
How historic is Tornado?
C−
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Tornado post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tornado’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tornado is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tornado’s 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 Tornado’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (17% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 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 Tornado’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Upper Falls of the Coal River was discovered in 1742 by John Peter Salling during an expedition along the Coal River. Salling and four companions each received a governor's commission from the state of Virginia to explore the territory east of the Mississippi River, in return for 10,000-acre (4,000 ha) land grants. It was this group that also discovered coal along the banks of the Coal River.
It was not until after the Revolutionary War that European settlers began moving into the area. Even then, the few who survived the attacks of the native peoples usually fled to safer destinations. But by around 1800, a gristmill was established by Joseph Thomas at the Upper Falls which continued in operation until the 1930s.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Tornado’s history
What year was Tornado founded?
The Tornado post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Tornado rank for history?
Tornado is more historic than 20% 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.
How old are the homes in Tornado?
5% of Tornado’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 Wikipedia, 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.
