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History · Cosby

Cosby’s post office opened in 1879, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1923 on and the census since 1910.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cosby began

When was Cosby founded?

1879

The Cosby post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 170 in 19102020 census: 114147 years
Founding year: the first Cosby post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Cosby’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 Cosby are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Cosby’s homes were built before 1947.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cosby’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cosby’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
The story

How Cosby came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cosby.

Read it all →

Cosby was founded in the late 1870s, and moved about one mile (1.6 km) to a new town site in 1885 when the railroad was extended to that point. The village was named after Cosby Miller, the child of a first settler. A post office called Cosby has been in operation since 1879.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cosby, 1879 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Cosby post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1921Born hereIvan Schottel is born here
  5. 1923On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1963Born hereDan Hegeman is born here
By decade

Cosby, decade by decade

Today3 recent
CosbyZionMonroeTownship2025CosbyZionMonroeTownshipCosbyMo2025CosbyMoMOMap-doton-Cosby2004MOMap-doton-Cosby
On the map

Cosby on the map, 1923 to 1983

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

Cosby on the 1923 USGS mapCosby on the 1983 USGS map1923Clarksdale 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 Cosby.

People over time

Cosby, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020Peak: 170

Between 114 and 170 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Cosby

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
D
Dan HegemanMember of the Missouri Senate · b. 1963
I
Ivan SchottelAmerican football player and coach · b. 1921

Questions about Cosby’s history

What year was Cosby founded?

The Cosby post office opened in 1879, 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 →
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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 (3), 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.