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History · Valley Head

Valley Head’s post office opened in 1852

Most of Valley Head was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1913 on.

1852first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Valley Head began

When was Valley Head founded?

1852

The Valley Head post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 207174 years
Founding year: the first Valley Head post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Valley Head’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Valley Head are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19133 editions of the USGS map, 1913 to 1995. Watch Valley Head change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Valley Head’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Valley Head on the map, 1913 to 1995

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

Valley Head on the 1913 USGS mapValley Head on the 1977 USGS mapValley Head on the 1995 USGS map1913Pickens 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 Head.

The story so far

Valley Head, in brief

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

Valley Head is a census-designated place (CDP) in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. Valley Head is located on U.S. Route 219, 12 miles (19 km) south-southwest of Huttonsville. Valley Head has a post office with ZIP code 26294. As of the 2020 census, its population was 207 (down from 267 at the 2010 census). The community was named for the nearby headwaters of the Tygart Valley River.

Its first post office opened in 1852. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 267 to 207 (-22%).

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Valley Head

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

See all →
Pearl S. BuckChinese women Nobel Prize winner, author, teach… · b. 1892
W
Will HareAmerican actor · b. 1919
Charles R. HollandUnited States General · b. 1946
Marjorie JoynerAmerican businesswoman and hair care entreprene… · b. 1896
Patricia Kennedy GrimstedHistorian · b. 1935
Robert Lee WolvertonAmerican recipient of the Purple Heart · b. 1914

Questions about Valley Head’s history

What year was Valley Head founded?

The Valley Head post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.