[5] From its earliest settlement, most villages and towns on the Eastern Shore of Virginia were located near the coasts at navigable ports where crops or livestock could be transported by boat.

The Painter-Garrisons United Methodist Church was established in nearby Mappsburg, Virginia in 1784 when Bishop Francis Asbury made his first of six visits to the home of Jonathan Garrison.

The congregation constructed a chapel by 1787, the first house of worship to be built by the Methodist Episcopal Church on the Eastern Shore.

[8] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2), all of it land.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

The Bay Coast Railroad provided Painter with freight rail service until going out of business in 2018.