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History · Canalou

Canalou’s post office opened in 1903

Most of Canalou was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1934 on and the census since 1910.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Canalou began

When was Canalou founded?

1903

The Canalou post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 296 in 19102020 census: 158123 years
Founding year: the first Canalou post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Canalou’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 Canalou are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 477 in 1920; 158 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Canalou’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Canalou’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
People over time

Canalou, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 477

Peaked at 477 in 1920; 158 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Canalou came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Canalou.

Read it all →

Canalou had its start in 1902 as a lumber company town. A post office called Canalou has been in operation since 1903. It is unknown why the name "Canalou" was applied to this community.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Canalou, 1903 to 1949

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Post officeThe Canalou post office opens
  3. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 477
  4. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1949Born hereEddie Lee Jackson is born here
By decade

Canalou, decade by decade

Today5 recent
1918 Canalou Missouri Armistice Day 1 titled20181918 Canalou Missouri Armistice Day 1 titledCanalou-from-Van-Buren-mo2017Canalou-from-Van-Buren-moCanalou-County-Road-847-mo2017Canalou-County-Road-847-moCanalou-City-Hall-mo2017Canalou-City-Hall-moCanalou-Assembly-of-God-mo2017Canalou-Assembly-of-God-mo
On the map

Canalou on the map, 1934 to 1963

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

Canalou on the 1934 USGS mapCanalou on the 1963 USGS map1934Sikeston 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 Canalou.

Questions about Canalou’s history

What year was Canalou founded?

The Canalou post office opened in 1903, 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 (5), 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.