Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #239 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Battlefield was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: maps from 1960 on and the census since 1980.
The Battlefield post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 4% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Battlefield is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #239 of 247 in Missouri. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Battlefield’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Battlefield’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Battlefield.
A post office called Battlefield was established in 1908, and remained in operation until 1940. Battlefield is named for its proximity to the 1861 Battle of Wilson's Creek, one of the first large battles of the American Civil War.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Battlefield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
tn the breeding of Jersey cattle, and he is very successful with his fine stuck, lie has a modernh appointed, nine-room residence of the bungalow type, <>nl\ a Fourth of a mile from Brookline on the main highway between that place and the village of Battlefield. His spacious yard is sown with Kentucky blue grass, which has given the place the appropriate name of "Green Lawn," by which it is known throughout the neighborhood. Mr. Trogdon has numerous substantial outbuildings, including two large barns, one of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
tling on a farm near the town of Clever, with his parents, with win mi he remained until he was about twenty-eight years of age, ami assisted with the general work on the farm. After his marriage he bought a farm near the present village of Battlefield and there devuted himself to general farming. During the C ivil war he enlisted in the Union army and proved to be such a gallant and efficient soldier that he was promoted to the rank of major, and was honorably discharged at the close of his term of enlistment. He devoted his active life to general farming and is now living
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Battlefield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Battlefield.
Grew from 1,227 people in 1980 to 5,990 in 2020, 4 times over.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Battlefield’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Battlefield itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Battlefield had its own post office from 1908 to 1940.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Battlefield post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Battlefield is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #239 of 247 in Missouri. 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.
0.7% of Battlefield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 2002.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, 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.
