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History · Agency

Agency dates to 1865, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1925 on and the census since 1880.

1865founded
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Agency began

When was Agency founded?

1865

Agency dates its founding to 1865 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 265 in 18802020 census: 671161 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1872.The full story ↓

What stands out about Agency’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Agency are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1910 and 1970, then grew 4-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Agency’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Agency’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Agency, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020429 in 1910Low: 141

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1910 and 1970, then grew 4-fold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Agency’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Agency came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Agency.

Read it all →

Before Agency was a permanent settlement it was a ford of the Platte River. Agency was laid out in 1865. It was formerly the site of an agency of the Sac and Fox Indians, hence the name. A post office called Agency has been in operation since 1872. On Sunday, May 20, 1923, a Ku Klux Klan picnic held at Agency was attended by several thousand people. Speakers included Rev. Bloom, Rev. Smallwood, and Rev. Rendlemarr, all of Partee Park Baptist Church.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Agency in 1881

Passages that mention Agency, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The town of Agency was founded in 1865 by William B. Smith, and during the following year his father, Hugh Smith, sold his farm, on which was the town site of the original town of Sparta, and established himself also here.
The History of Buchanan County, Missouri1881 · page 131Read the page →
Read the text

The town of Agency was founded in 1865 by William B. Smith, and during the following year his father, Hugh Smith, sold his farm, on which was the town site of the original town of Sparta, and established himself also here.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Agency was founded in 1865 by William B. Smith, and during the following year his father, Hugh Smith, sold his farm, on which was the town site of the original town of Sparta, and established himself also here.
The history of Buchanan County, Missouri1881 · page 131Read the page →
Read the text

The town of Agency was founded in 1865 by William B. Smith, and during the following year his father, Hugh Smith, sold his farm, on which was the town site of the original town of Sparta, and established himself also here.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Where the town of Agency now stands there was formerly a ford, extensively used in the days of the early settlement of the country, called Agency Ford. The name originated from the fact that the Platte River was forded at this point, in going from the Indian Agency, established west of the Platte, …
The history of Buchanan County, Missouri1881 · page 374Read the page →
Read the text

Where the town of Agency now stands there was formerly a ford, extensively used in the days of the early settlement of the country, called Agency Ford. The name originated from the fact that the Platte River was forded at this point, in going from the Indian Agency, established west of the Platte, to Liberty, Clay County, Missouri, in those days, the nearest point of trade.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Where the town of Agency now stands there was formerly a ford, •extensively used in the days of the early settlement of the country, called Agency Ford. The name originated from the fact that the Platte River was forded at this point, in going from the Indian Agency, established west of the Platte,…
The History of Buchanan County, Missouri1881 · page 374Read the page →
Read the text

Where the town of Agency now stands there was formerly a ford, •extensively used in the days of the early settlement of the country, called Agency Ford. The name originated from the fact that the Platte River was forded at this point, in going from the Indian Agency, established west of the Platte, to Liberty, Clay County, Missouri, in those days, the nearest point of trade.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Agency, 1865 to 2010

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865
    FoundingAgency is established
  3. 1872Post officeThe Agency post office opens
  4. 1899Born hereOllie C. Thomas is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 21st century
  8. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 684
By decade

Agency, decade by decade

Today2 recent
AgencyMO2025AgencyMOMOMap-doton-Agency2004MOMap-doton-Agency
On the map

Agency on the map, 1925 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Agency. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Agency on the 1925 USGS mapAgency on the 1971 USGS map1925Gower sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Agency.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Agency’s post office has been open since 1872.

Gone or out of use
Moore Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Agency
Feuquay

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Agency’s history

What year was Agency founded?

In 1865, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Agency’s post office opened in 1872, and the census of 1880 counted 265 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.