Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1917 on and old-book passages.
The Elsberry post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Nelson (1877), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elsberry is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Elsberry’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.
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 →
From Wikipedia’s history of Elsberry.
Elsberry was laid out in 1871, and named after one of its founders, Robert T. Elsberry. The town site was platted in 1879. A post office called Elsberry has been in operation since 1879.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Elsberry, cut from the printed page as they were published.
about eighty years. Another early school teacher in the vicinity of Millwood, was Athanasins Mndd, a graduate of the College of Georgetown), D. C, both in literature and law. The first school near Elsberry was taught about the year 1833, by William Watts. An old settler of that vicinity remembers a fight that took place at the raising of the log schoolhouse in which Watts taught, betwreen one William Vance and one Mellon.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1883, H. W. Lee, J. C. Carter and fifty-two other citizens of Elsberry, petitioned the county court, praying for the incorporation of the town. In November of that year the court granted the prayer of the petition, and duly incorporated the town according to Article 0, Chapter 89, Revised Statutes of Missouri.
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.
Born hereClarence Andrew Cannon is born here
In the archiveMissouri - Big Spring State Part through Hillsboro
In the archivePhotograph with 2 captions, (1) "Figure 4. Poor baling methods." (2) "M0-1298 - Soil Cons…
Born hereMarc Hill is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1917Missouri - Big Spring State Part through Hillsboro1938Photograph with 2 captions, (1) "Figure 4. Poor balin…
1938Photograph with 2 captions, (1) "Figure 4. Poor balin…
1938Photograph with with 2 captions, (1) "Figure 2. Fair …
1938Photograph with with 2 captions, (1) "Figure 2. Fair …
c. 1938Photograph with with 2 captions, (1)"Figure 2. Good b…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 Elsberry’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Elsberry’s post office has been open since 1879. Another post office, Nelson, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Elsberry post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Elsberry is more historic than 42% 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.
23% of Elsberry’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1965.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
