Most of Winfield was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Its Register listings are the Putnam County Courthouse, the James W. Hoge House and the Winfield Toll Bridge. Its Register listings are the Putnam County Courthouse, the James W. Hoge House and the Winfield Toll Bridge. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Winfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Winfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winfield is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Winfield’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 Winfield’s 10.3 sits near the middle of its state (54% of West Virginia towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. 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 Winfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Winfield was established on a 400-acre (160 ha) tract of land owned by Charles Brown. He established a ferry across the river in 1818. The first meeting of the county court was held at the home of Talleyrand P. Brown, in Winfield, on May 22, 1848. The town was incorporated on February 21, 1868, and named in honor of Winfield Scott, the commanding general of the U.S. Army during the Mexican–American War.
The James W. Hoge House, Putnam County Courthouse, and Winfield Toll Bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
The Winfield post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Winfield rank for history?
Winfield is more historic than 51% 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.
What is on the National Register in Winfield?
Three places: the Putnam County Courthouse (listed 2000), the James W. Hoge House (2007) and the Winfield Toll Bridge (2011).
How old are the homes in Winfield?
2% of Winfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 13% for a West Virginia town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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