Welcome to Amherst ...

The town of Amherst is located in Amherst County<1> and is the County Seat for Amherst County.

Google driving directions from your current location to Amherst

While we don't have a date for the founding of Amherst, you might consider that their post office opened in 1803.

From the Census Estimates for 2019, Amherst has a population of 2,184 people<2> (see below for details).

Amherst is 700 feet [213 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Amherst lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Code for Amherst: 434

The ZIP code for Amherst: 24521<4>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Amherst had an population of 2,184 people. This is a decrease of 2.11% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 2.98% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Amherst had a population of 2,231 people (which is 6.89% of the total population of Amherst County). This makes Amherst the county's most populous community.

The population of Amherst represents 0.03% of the total population of Virginia (which has 8,001,024 people), making it the state's 92nd most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 2,231 people, the population of Amherst has remained roughly the same as the 2000 Census (which had a count of 2,251 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Amherst.

Communities Also Named Amherst ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Virginia communities named Amherst: This one is located in Amherst County and the other is located in Fairfax County.

Beyond Virginia, there are 24 communities that are also named Amherst - they are located in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas (2), Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York (2), North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Quebec, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas (2) and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Amherst.

Communities near Amherst ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Amherst.

Lynchburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynchburg
- Lynchburg is located in Lynchburg City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 81,561 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lynchburg <5>
Buena Vista
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Buena Vista is located in Buena Vista City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,402 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buena Vista <5>
Coolwell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coolwell. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolwell
- Coolwell is located in Amherst County
New Glasgow
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for New Glasgow. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Glasgow
- New Glasgow is located in Amherst County
Sandidges
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sandidges. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandidges
- Sandidges is located in Amherst County
Walkers Ford
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Walkers Ford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkers Ford
- Walkers Ford is located in Amherst County
Winesap
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winesap
- Winesap is located in Amherst County
Lowesville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowesville
- Lowesville is located in Amherst County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lowesville <5>
Allwood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Allwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
- Allwood is located in Amherst County
Beckham
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckham
- Beckham is located in Appomattox County

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Amherst. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Amherst.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Amherst. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Amherst.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Amherst. Our list includes 5 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Amherst.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Amherst ...

Looking for more information about Amherst? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Amherst, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Amherst.

Adding Amherst to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Amherst in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Amherst was in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (1803).

We also found Amherst in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Amherst.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Amherst. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Amherst County: www.countyofamherst.com/

The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>	If you're interested in how the shape of Virginia's counties, including Amherst, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>	Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Amherst.
<3>	The elevation is an estimate for the area around Amherst - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>	ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a town (such as Amherst). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Amherst or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<5>	While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>	The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<7>	An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.