On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brentwood is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #156 of 247 in Missouri. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brentwood’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 Brentwood’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Brentwood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area that is Brentwood consists of three land purchases: that of Louis J. Bompart who acquired his lot first in 1804, that of the Gay family, and that of the Marshall family. In the 1870s, a man by the name of Thomas Madden arrived and soon became the businessman of the community. He operated a rock quarry, and constructed a tavern, a barbershop, a grocery store, and a blacksmith shop. Due to Madden's prominence in the community, the town was then named Maddenville.
With a location on the Manchester Trail, a route that was mostly frequented by mail coaches and prairie schooners going west, Maddenville in the 1800s became a prosperous town on the outskirts of St. Louis, to which it was connected by a streetcar line.
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.
Brentwood is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #156 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 Brentwood?
14% of Brentwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1956.
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 (8), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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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