Bonne Terre’s post office opened in 1876, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #68 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Bonne Terre Mine, the Bonne Terre Depot and the St. Joe Lead Company Administration Building. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1890.
From Bonne Terre’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Bonne Terre began
When was Bonne Terre founded?
1876
The Bonne Terre post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bontear (1868), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 3,719 in 18902020 census: 6,903150 years
How historic is Bonne Terre?
B+
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bonne Terre post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bonne Terre’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bonne Terre is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #68 of 247 in Missouri. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bonne Terre’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 Bonne Terre’s 4.5 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.8 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 Bonne Terre’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The community was originally part of the Louisiana Territory and settled by Frenchmen in 1720 after they discovered lead ore. Two Frenchmen, La Motte and Philip Francois Renault, had left France in 1719 with 200 miners in search of minerals as part of the Company of the West. Surface miners referred to it as La Bonne Terre around 1825, meaning "the good soil" because of the lead. In 1828, St. Anne, the first Catholic chapel in St Francois County, was built here.
In 1864, Bonne Terre Mine was established by St. Joseph lead mining company which was incorporated in NYC the same year. In 1865, a new superintendent, J. C. Winslow, brought a number of Cornish miners.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Bonne Terre, census by census
Between 3,219 and 6,903 people in every census since 1890.
12 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bonne Terre’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Bonne Terre’s post office has been open since 1876. Another post office, Bontear, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Bontear
1868–1876
Bonne Terre
1876–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
The Lead Belt
Gone or out of use
La Grave Minesmine
1cemetery inside Bonne Terre
Saint Joseph
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Bonne Terre’s history
What year was Bonne Terre founded?
The Bonne Terre post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bonne Terre rank for history?
Bonne Terre is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #68 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.
What is on the National Register in Bonne Terre?
Three places: the Bonne Terre Mine (listed 1974), the Bonne Terre Depot (1984) and the St. Joe Lead Company Administration Building (1984).
How old are the homes in Bonne Terre?
28% of Bonne Terre’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.8 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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) 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.
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