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History · Bland

Bland’s post office opened in 1877, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 1910.

1877first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Bland began

When was Bland founded?

1877

The Bland post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 359 in 19102020 census: 506149 years
Founding year: the first Bland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bland’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 Bland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Bland’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bland’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
The story

How Bland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bland.

Read it all →

A post office called Bland has been in operation since 1877. The town is named in honor of U.S. Congressman Richard Parks Bland, a United States Representative from various districts in south central Missouri. Bland was a practicing attorney in Rolla in neighboring Phelps County.

In 2020, the independent short film SCP: Overlord was filmed in Bland. The film takes place in the SCP Foundation universe. The film was directed by Stephen Hancock of Altavision. The film also starred Noah Bryan. The movie would go on to win 5 awards at the Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, including Best Short Film and Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film. It would also go on to win Best Short Film at Sunscreen Film Festival.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bland, 1877 to 1934

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877Post officeThe Bland post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1931Born hereRay Steiner is born here
  5. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bland, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Bland, Missouri2026Bland, Missouri
On the map

Bland on the map, 1934 to 1981

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

Bland on the 1934 USGS mapBland on the 1981 USGS map1934Bland 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 Bland.

Every building

Bland, building by building, 1914–1922

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Bland fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Bland, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 662

Between 359 and 662 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Bland’s history

What year was Bland founded?

The Bland post office opened in 1877, 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 (1), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.