Most of Duenweg was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1960.
Founding year: the first Duenweg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Duenweg’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Duenweg is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Duenweg’s overall grade.
Missouri towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Missouri town has 2.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Duenweg’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Duenweg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
While the Osage tribe inhabited the general region previously, European-American settlement started in the year 1855, when two brothers, Elijah C. and James C. Webb, from Overton County, Tennessee, moved to the area. Mining in the vicinity later caught the attention of Otto Duenweg and his father, Louis, of Terre Haute, Indiana, who in 1895 purchased significant mining interests at the site. The mining camp became known from that time on as Duenweg in their honor. A post office called Duenweg has been in operation since 1895.
Passages that mention Duenweg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people1912 · page 337Read the page →
Read the text
Duenweg in 1899 was spoken of as an infant wonder in the mining district. It was a phenomena, a prodigy and a lasting freak of remarkable richness. In 1898 land that a few years before could have been bought for a few dollars per acre was producing $37,656 monthly in lead and zinc. The camp took its name from the eastern heirs to the property named Duenweg. The town has two railroads, and is in line with the prosperity and advancement of the county so self-evident to everyone.
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.
The Duenweg post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Duenweg rank for history?
Duenweg is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Duenweg?
4% of Duenweg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1988.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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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