The story
Read it all →How Butterfield came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Butterfield.
Butterfield was platted in 1883. The town has the name of Fredrick Butterfield, a railroad official.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Butterfield
Butterfield’s post office opened in 1882, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1939 on.
1882first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Quick answers
How Butterfield began
When was Butterfield founded?
1882
The Butterfield post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 378144 years
Founding year: the first Butterfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Butterfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Butterfield’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Butterfield’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Butterfield, 1882 to 1967
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1882Post officeThe Butterfield post office opens
- 20th century
- 1939
In the archiveButterfield, Missouri in 1939 - 1967Post officeThe Butterfield post office closes
By decade
Butterfield, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
19391940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your albumThen & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewButterfield, Missouri in 1939, 1939
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Butterfield’s page.
Retake this view · +15Places that used to be
Lost post offices and places now gone
Butterfield had its own post office from 1882 to 1967.
Butterfield
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Butterfield Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Butterfield’s history
What year was Butterfield founded?
The Butterfield post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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.