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History · Annapolis

Annapolis’ post office opened in 1871

Most of Annapolis was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1926 on, and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Annapolis’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Annapolis began

When was Annapolis founded?

1871

The Annapolis post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 153 in 18802020 census: 250155 years
Founding year: the first Annapolis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Annapolis’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 690 in 1890; 250 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Annapolis’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAnnapolis Business street: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Annapolis, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 690

Peaked at 690 in 1890; 250 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Annapolis came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Annapolis.

Read it all →

Annapolis was laid out in 1871, and according to tradition, named after Anna Allen, the wife of a railroad official. The name is also said to be a transfer from Annapolis, Maryland. A post office called Annapolis has been in operation since 1871.

Annapolis was 90 percent destroyed by the Great Tri-State Tornado of 1925.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Annapolis, 1871 to 1926

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Annapolis post office opens
  3. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 690
  4. 20th century
  5. 1925In the archiveAnnapolis Business street
  6. 1926On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Annapolis, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s4 items
Annapolis Business street1925Annapolis Business streetAnnapolis, Missouri 1925 tornado damage 31925Annapolis, Missouri 1925 tornado damage 3Annapolis, Missouri 1925 tornado damage 41925Annapolis, Missouri 1925 tornado damage 4Pc9-frnt1925Pc9-frnt
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Waterfalls-at-taum-sauk-mountain.jpg2014Waterfalls-at-taum-sauk-mountain.jpgMOMap-doton-Annapolis2004MOMap-doton-Annapolis
On the map

Annapolis on the map, 1926 to 1969

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

Annapolis on the 1926 USGS mapAnnapolis on the 1969 USGS map1926Des Arc 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 Annapolis.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Annapolis Business street
Retake this viewAnnapolis Business street, 1925

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Annapolis’ page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Annapolis

Nobody well known was born in Annapolis itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jake ArrietaAmerican baseball player · b. 1986
Bernarr MacfaddenAmerican physical culturist and magazine publis… · b. 1868
Nelson McDowellAmerican actor · b. 1870
C
Chris CarrAmerican basketball player · b. 1974
H
Herbert AsburyAmerican journalist · b. 1889
R
Robert Moore WilliamsAmerican writer · b. 1907

Questions about Annapolis’ history

What year was Annapolis founded?

The Annapolis post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, 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.