More historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #188 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Black Jack was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: maps from 1927 on and the census since 1970.
The Black Jack post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Jamestown (1820), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 4,145 in 19702020 census: 6,634154 years
How historic is Black Jack?
C
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Black Jack post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Black Jack’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Black Jack is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #188 of 247 in Missouri. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Black Jack’s overall grade.
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 Black Jack’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 range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Black Jack’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Black Jack yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Black Jack is a second-ring suburb of St. Louis in northern St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 6,634 at the 2020 census. A post office called Black Jack was established in 1872, and operated until 1906. The community was named for a grove of blackjack oak trees near the original town site.
Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 6,929 to 6,634 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Black Jack, 1820 to 1927
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Black Jack post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Black Jack rank for history?
Black Jack is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #188 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.
How old are the homes in Black Jack?
8% of Black Jack’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.
2013
2004
