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History · Vivian

1 of Vivian’s places is on the National Register

Its Register listing is the Peerless Coal Company Store. Below: maps from 1911 on.

1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Vivian’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 Vivian are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19114 editions of the USGS map, 1911 to 1976. Watch Vivian change.
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Start Vivian’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vivian’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

Vivian on the map, 1911 to 1976

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

Vivian on the 1911 USGS mapVivian on the 1924 USGS mapVivian on the 1967 USGS mapVivian on the 1976 USGS map1911Pocahontas Special 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 Vivian.

The story so far

Vivian, in brief

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

Vivian is a census-designated place (CDP) in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. Vivian is located along U.S. Route 52, 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of Kimball. As of the 2020 census, its population was 85 (a slight increase from 82 at the 2010 census). An old variant name was Clausen. The Peerless Coal Company Store was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 82 to 85 (+4%).

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

Timeline

Vivian, 1892 to 1911

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Clausen post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Clausen post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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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On the National Register

1 historic place in Vivian

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Peerless Coal Company Store
Peerless Coal Company Store
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Modern Movement1
Peerless Coal Company StoreModern Movement

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Another post office, Clausen, opened and closed inside today’s town.

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

Questions about Vivian’s history

What is on the National Register in Vivian?

One place: the Peerless Coal Company Store (listed 1992).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.