Virginville is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in Richmond Township, Berks County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. It is located at the junction of PA 143 and Crystal Ridge Road, and is approximately seven miles to the south of the borough of Lenhartsville. The community was designated as the Virginville Historic District by the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2000. As of the 2020 census, the population was 304 residents.https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q=Virginville+CDP%2C+Pennsylvania&search%3Atab=Infographics#search

History

The origin of the name Virginville is obscure. Some say it is the English translation of a Native American word, while others believe the community was named for virgin forests in the area. "Virgin" may be an alternate translation of the Indian-named

Maiden Creek Maiden Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Schuylkill River in Berks County, Pennsylvania.Gertler, Edward. ''Keystone Canoeing'', ...

, which runs through the town and also meets up with

Sacony Creek Sacony Creek (historically Saucony Creek) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of Maiden Creek in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Berks County, Penns ...

. The hamlet was designated the Virginville Historic District by the

in 2000. The district encompasses 290 contributing buildings built between 1874 and 2001 with residential, commercial, and institutional buildings which were constructed in a variety of popular architectural styles, including

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

and

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

. A primarily residential district, notable non-residential buildings include The Creamery (c. 1875), St. Paul's Chapel (1903), Virginville Hotel (1885), post office (c. 1930), and Balthasar's Garage (1921). ''Note:'' This includes

Population and demographics

As of the 2020 census, the population was 304 residents.

Gallery

File:Virginville Chapel BerksCo PA.JPG, St. Paul's Chapel File:Virginville House 2 BerksCo PA.JPG, Gothic Revival style house File:Virginville House 1 BerksCo PA.JPG, Vernacular brick house

References

{{authority control Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Gothic Revival architecture in Pennsylvania Italianate architecture in Pennsylvania Historic districts in Berks County, Pennsylvania Census-designated places in Berks County, Pennsylvania Census-designated places in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Berks County, Pennsylvania