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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Gainesville ...

Gainesville is located in Prince William County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Gainesville, you might consider that their post office opened in 1852.

Gainesville is 350 feet [107 m] above sea level.<2>.

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

Area Codes for Gainesville: 703 & 571<3>

The ZIP codes for Gainesville: 20155-20156<4>

Communities Also Named Gainesville ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 12 communities that are also named Gainesville - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Texas (3).

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

Communities near Gainesville ...

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

  • Manassas
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Herndon
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Fairfax
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Manassas Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Warrenton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Middleburg
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Clifton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • The Plains
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Catharpin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Catharpin is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catharpin
  • Bataan Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Bataan Village is located in Prince William County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bataan Village

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 Gainesville. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Gainesville.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Gainesville. 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 Gainesville.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Gainesville. See our Newspapers Page for Gainesville.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Gainesville ...

Looking for more information about Gainesville? 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 Gainesville, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Gainesville.

Adding Gainesville to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Gainesville 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 (so far) for Gainesville was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Gainesville post office opened in 1852.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Gainesville.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Virginia's counties, including Prince William, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Gainesville - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 703 code has been Overlayed with the 571 area code. New phone numbers in the Gainesville area will be assigned with one of these codes: 703 or 571. As a result, placing a call in the Gainesville area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<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 community (such as Gainesville). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Gainesville or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Our list of ZIP Codes for Gainesville includes: 20155 & 20156.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/