Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1880.
The Centerview post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Centre View (1868), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Centerview’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Centerview. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Centerview.
Peaked at 268 in 1920; 189 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Centerview’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Centerview.
Centerview was originally called Graham, and under the latter name was laid out in 1865, and named after Samuel C. Graham, the original owner of the town site. A post office called Centerview has been in operation since 1868.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Centerview, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Samuel McFarland. a native of Tennessee, came to the territory of Missouri in 1816. Later he lived in Cooper and Lafayette counties and in 1843 settled in Centerview township, about two miles east of where the village of Centerview now stands. He went to Texas in 1850 and died there in 1851. His brother, George McFarland, settled in Centerview in 1843 in the same locality and spent the remainder of his life there. He died prior to the Civil \A'ar.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centerview town is a thriving and progressive village on the Missouri Pacific railroad between Warernsburg and Holden. It was founded in 1865. when the Pacific railroad was built. The postoffice here was established with the laying out of the town and Elhanan Roop was the first postmaster.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
to Salisbury, through the state of Georgia, Huntsville and Nashville, Tennessee, and was mustered out at the close of the war. In the fall of 1867, he moved his family to Missouri, and settled about four miles from Centerview, where he engaged in farming, and remained for several years, then moved into the town of Centerview. He still owns a farm of 260 acres of choice land. In 1872, Mrs. Haymaker died, leaving three sons: Edward M., Oliver R. and Milo M. Edward, who is a graduate of Eastor College, is now attending the Theological school at Princeton, N.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
George McFarland, the brother of Samuel, came to Centerview about the year 1843, and settled about two miles south of the present village of Centerview. He died there some time before the war. He was given to quaint, dry expressions, which were wont to produce great merriment among his friends.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Centerview itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Centerview’s post office has been open since 1895. Another post office, Centre View, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Centerview post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikipedia, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
