The story
Read it all →How Advance came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Advance.
Advance had its start in 1910 when the railroad was extended to that point.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C−History
History · Advance
Advance’s post office opened in 1882
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Advance was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1934 on and the census since 1900.
1882first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Advance began
When was Advance founded?
1882
The Advance post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1883. Another post office, Lakeville (1858), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 221 in 19002020 census: 1,349144 years
How historic is Advance?
C−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Advance post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1883.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Advance’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Advance is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Advance’s overall grade.
Founding era1882, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.8% of homes (±3.2) · typical MO town 8.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical MO town 2.4 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder
Missouri towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Missouri town has 2.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Advance’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1883 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Advance’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Advance’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Advance’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Advance, 1858 to 1952
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Advance on the map, 1934 to 1963
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Advance. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1934Advance sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Advance.
People over time
Advance, census by census
Grew from 221 people in 1900 to 1,349 in 2020, 6 times over.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Advance’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Advance’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Lakeville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Lakeville
Advance
18501940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Advance’s history
What year was Advance founded?
The Advance post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1883.
How does Advance rank for history?
Advance is more historic than 21% 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.
How old are the homes in Advance?
5% of Advance’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1979.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 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.