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History · Valley Grove

Valley Grove’s post office opened in 1854, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Beagle Hotel and the National Road Mile Markers Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14. Its Register listings are the Beagle Hotel and the National Road Mile Markers Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1960.

1854first post office
2on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Valley Grove’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Valley Grove began

When was Valley Grove founded?

1854

The Valley Grove post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 548 in 19602020 census: 275172 years
Founding year: the first Valley Grove post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Valley Grove’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19026 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1997. Watch Valley Grove change.Old housesHalf of Valley Grove’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Valley Grove’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Valley Grove’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHi-way Motel, Valley Grove, West Virgin…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Valley Grove on the map, 1902 to 1997

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

Valley Grove on the 1902 USGS mapValley Grove on the 1935 USGS mapValley Grove on the 1942 USGS mapValley Grove on the 1959 USGS mapValley Grove on the 1981 USGS mapValley Grove on the 1997 USGS map1902Wheeling 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 Valley Grove.

The story so far

Valley Grove, in brief

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

Valley Grove is a village in Ohio County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the Wheeling metropolitan area. The population was 275 at the 2020 census. The village was named from a nearby recreational area at a grove in a valley.

Its first post office opened in 1854. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 378 to 275 (-27%).

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

Timeline

Valley Grove, 1854 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Valley Grove post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1930In the archiveHi-way Motel, Valley Grove, West Virginia (85683)
By decade

Valley Grove, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Hi-way Motel, Valley Grove, West Virginia (85683)c. 1930Hi-way Motel, Valley Grove, West Virginia (85683)
1940s–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
Today3 recent
Beagle Hotel Site2010Beagle Hotel SiteValley Camp Coal - panoramio - RojAdrik2008Valley Camp Coal - panoramio - RojAdrikWVMap-doton-ValleyGrove2004WVMap-doton-ValleyGrove
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.

Hi-way Motel, Valley Grove, West Virginia (85683)
Retake this viewHi-way Motel, Valley Grove, West Virginia (85683), c. 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Valley Grove

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
Beagle Hotel
Beagle HotelNational Road Mile Markers Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14
BuildingsObjects

Architectural styles listings

Early Republic1
Beagle HotelEarly Republic
All 2 listings
National Road Mile Markers Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14Object · listed 1993

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

People over time

Valley Grove, census by census

01002003004005006001960198020002020Peak: 597

Between 275 and 597 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Valley Grove

Nobody well known was born in Valley Grove itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
John HavlicekAmerican basketball player · b. 1940
John CorbettAmerican actor and country music singer · b. 1961
Rob GarrisonAmerican actor · b. 1960
Ted LevineAmerican actor · b. 1957
William Dean HowellsAmerican author, critic, and playwright · b. 1837
Billy CoxAmerican musician · b. 1941
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Valley Grove’s post office has been open since 1854.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Point Mills
Gone or out of use
Valley Grove Schoolschool

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

Questions about Valley Grove’s history

What year was Valley Grove founded?

The Valley Grove post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Valley Grove?

Two places: the Beagle Hotel (listed 1993) and the National Road Mile Markers Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 (1993).

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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.