Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1940 on, and the census since 1890.
Clearmont dates its founding to 1857 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1890.
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 Clearmont’s history is told.
Peaked at 348 in 1900; 158 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clearmont’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Clearmont.
Clearmont was laid out in 1857 by Alonzo Thompson. Variant spellings include Clairmont, Clearmound and Claremont, some say the community was named after nearby Clear Creek, while others believe the name is a transfer from Clermont, Indiana. A post office called Clearmont has been in operation since 1881.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Clearmont, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In the old town of Clearmont a school house was erected about the year 1856, which was also used as a church. Public school has been kept in this house eight months in the year.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
carding machine which is now known as Burnett's Mill, which he continued to run for two years. After this he was engaged in the saw mill business in different parts of the count}- till the fall of 1871, when he embarked in the mercantile trade at Clearmont, there remaining till the spring of 1872. In the fall of that year he began in the mercantile trade at Lamar Station, where he continued till the beginning of the town of Elmo, and as before stated, was the first merchant in the town. Mr.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveFarm buildings and home, two miles south of Clearmont, Missouri, near Iowa state lineOne decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clearmont. 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 Clearmont.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Clearmont’s page.
Retake this view · +15Clearmont’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, Claremont, 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).
In 1857, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Clearmont’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1890 counted 246 people here.
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (1), 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.
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