From Williamstown’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Williamstown began
When was Williamstown founded?
1857
The Williamstown post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Duncan (1839), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 209 in 18602020 census: 2,997169 years
How historic is Williamstown?
B
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Williamstown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Williamstown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Williamstown is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #34 of 61 in West Virginia. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Williamstown’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 Williamstown’s 3.4 sits near the middle of its state (42% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.8 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 Williamstown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Williamstown was named for Isaac Williams (1737–1820), who settled here in 1787. Williams had served under General Braddock (1755) as a ranger and spy and under Governor Dunmore (1774) fighting against the Shawnee. His home was on 400 acres on the Ohio River opposite the mouth of the Muskingum River, site of Marietta, Ohio, which was founded about a year after he arrived. Other local namesakes include Williams Creek and Williams District. The settlement was known as Williamsport to Ohio River travelers until 1822 when the present name was formalized.
Located in Williamstown is the Tomlinson Mansion, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Located near Williamstown is the Henderson Hall Historic District.
land, fronting Marietta, and within the original boundaries of this plantation, is situated the pleasant village of Williamstown. Several years ago it was made an incorporated town by an Act of the Legislature of Virginia, and coutains a population of about five hundred inhabitants. A turnpike extends back through this county from this town over fine arable lands, and intersects the Northwestern Turnpike, fifteen miles East of Parkersburg. Above and below the town, the bottom lands on the Ohio are wide and of the best quality, giving not only fine views of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
mouth of the Big Muskingum river, and cleared four acres and erected a cabin thereon, and raised a crop of corn during that year. This tract of land, owing to its location, and the fertility of its soil, has become very valuable. The beautiful village of Williamstown forms a part of it, while the residue has been divided into small farms, now in a high state of cultivation.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Williamstown, 1839 to 1907
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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Williamstown, census by census
Between 198 and 3,095 people in every census since 1860.
16 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Williamstown’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Williamstown’s post office has been open since 1857. Another post office, Duncan, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Duncan
1839–1857
Williamstown
1857–today
18301930today
Gone or out of use
Williamstown Junior-Senior High Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Williamstown
Old Williamstown
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Williamstown’s history
What year was Williamstown founded?
The Williamstown post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Williamstown rank for history?
Williamstown is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #34 of 61 in West Virginia. 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 Williamstown?
One place: the Tomlinson Mansion (listed 1974).
How old are the homes in Williamstown?
30% of Williamstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.8 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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