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History · Emma

Emma’s post office opened in 1888, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1887 on and the census since 1960.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Emma began

When was Emma founded?

1888

The Emma post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 202 in 19602020 census: 201138 years
Founding year: the first Emma post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Emma’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 Emma are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18873 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1983. Watch Emma change.Old housesHalf of Emma’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Emma’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Emma’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
On the map

Emma on the map, 1887 to 1983

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

Emma on the 1887 USGS mapEmma on the 1894 USGS mapEmma on the 1983 USGS map1887Sedalia sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Emma.

The story

How Emma came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Emma.

Read it all →

The village has the name of Emma Demetrio, the daughter of a local minister.

The following are Excerpted from Robert W. Frizzell's 1977 article "'Killed by Rebels': A Civil War Massacre And Its Aftermath":

Missouri Germans in general had a well-earned reputation among slaveowners as being opposed to slavery. Many St.Louis Germans were exiles from European political oppression. They desired and expected in the United States "a political and social utopia where the rights of the individual were held sacred."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Emma, 1887 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1888Post officeThe Emma post office opens
  4. 1892Post officeThe Emma post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1951Post officeThe Emma post office closes
By decade

Emma, decade by decade

Today2 recent
US-MO - Emma - Sign - North America - Road Trip - Missouri - Midwest2009US-MO - Emma - Sign - North America - Road Trip - Mis…US-MO - Emma - Missouri2009US-MO - Emma - Missouri
People over time

Emma, census by census

01002001960198020002020Peak: 267

Between 194 and 267 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Emma’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Emma, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Emma
1888–today
Emma
1892–1951
18801950today
1cemetery inside Emma
Holy Cross

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Emma’s history

What year was Emma founded?

The Emma post office opened in 1888, 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 →
Start a conversation
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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.