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B−History
History · Fenton

Fenton dates to 1818, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #125 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Carney-Keightley House. Most of Fenton was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1933 on, and the census since 1900.

1818founded
1on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fenton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fenton began

When was Fenton founded?

1818

Fenton dates its founding to 1818 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 160 in 19002020 census: 3,989208 years

How historic is Fenton?

B−

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1833.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Fenton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fenton is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #125 of 247 in Missouri. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fenton’s overall grade.
Founding era1818, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19401.3% of homes (±1.7) · typical MO town 8.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 2.4 per 10,000 residents · typical MO town 2.4 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 47%
NewerOlder
Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)Ahead of 50%

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 Fenton’s 2.4 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1818.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Fenton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1818: 208 years of Fenton.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fenton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fenton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBicycle party resting in Fenton, Missou…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Fenton, 1818 to 1993

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1818
    FoundingFenton is established
  3. 1833Post officeThe Fenton post office opens
  4. 1897In the archiveBicycle party resting in Fenton, Missouri, 12 September 1897
  5. 20th century
  6. 1923Born hereLyle Bouck is born here
  7. 1933On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1955Born hereKen Schrader is born here
  9. 1959Born hereMike Wallace is born here
  10. 1978Born hereJosh Arnold is born here
  11. 1993In the archive3WE Weiss Airport St. Louis County MO c1993
The story

How Fenton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fenton.

Read it all →

Due to its proximity to fertile land and the Meramec River, the Fenton area has been inhabited for over 900 years. The earliest proof of ancient dwellers was excavated from the "Fenton Mounds", two conical earthen burial mounds located near the southwestern border of Fenton. Diagnostic pottery shards from the mounds indicate they date from the Mississippian times, A.D. 1050 - 1400. In 2001, the mounds were leveled for construction of a Walmart Supercenter.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Fenton, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Bicycle party resting in Fenton, Missouri, 12 September 18971897Bicycle party resting in Fenton, Missouri, 12 Septemb…
1900s–1980snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1990s1 item
3WE Weiss Airport St. Louis County MO c199319933WE Weiss Airport St. Louis County MO c1993
Today16 recent
FEMA - 34541 - Sandbag production line in Missouri2008FEMA - 34541 - Sandbag production line in MissouriFEMA - 34540 - Residents fill sandbags in Missouri2008FEMA - 34540 - Residents fill sandbags in MissouriFEMA - 34502 - Missouri residents build a sandbag wall2008FEMA - 34502 - Missouri residents build a sandbag wallFEMA - 34495 - Residents preparing sandbags in Missouri2008FEMA - 34495 - Residents preparing sandbags in Missou…FEMA - 34494 - Volunteers build a sandbag wall in Missouri2008FEMA - 34494 - Volunteers build a sandbag wall in Mis…FEMA - 34493 - Residents fill sandbags in Missouri2008FEMA - 34493 - Residents fill sandbags in MissouriFEMA - 34491 - Residents fill sandbags in Missouri2008FEMA - 34491 - Residents fill sandbags in MissouriFEMA - 34490 - Residents fill sandbags in Missouri2008FEMA - 34490 - Residents fill sandbags in MissouriFEMA - 34489 - Residents fill sandbags in Missouri2008FEMA - 34489 - Residents fill sandbags in MissouriFEMA - 34488 - Residents fill sandbags in Missouri2008FEMA - 34488 - Residents fill sandbags in MissouriFEMA - 34487 - Residents prepare sandbags for flooding protection in Missouri2008FEMA - 34487 - Residents prepare sandbags for floodin…FEMA - 34486 - Residents prepare sandbags to protect property in Missouri2008FEMA - 34486 - Residents prepare sandbags to protect …FEMA - 34485 - Residents fill sandbags in Missouri2008FEMA - 34485 - Residents fill sandbags in MissouriFEMA - 34484 - Residents in Missouri sandbag a bank of the Meremac River2008FEMA - 34484 - Residents in Missouri sandbag a bank o…FEMA - 34483 - Residents preparing sand bags in Missouri2008FEMA - 34483 - Residents preparing sand bags in Misso…MOMap-doton-Fenton2004MOMap-doton-Fenton
On the map

Fenton on the map, 1933 to 1993

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

Fenton on the 1933 USGS mapFenton on the 1940 USGS mapFenton on the 1954 USGS mapFenton on the 1968 USGS mapFenton on the 1974 USGS mapFenton on the 1982 USGS mapFenton on the 1993 USGS map1933Kirkwood sheet · 1:24,000

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bicycle party resting in Fenton, Missouri, 12 September 1897
Retake this viewBicycle party resting in Fenton, Missouri, 12 September 1897, 1897

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fenton’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Fenton

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2010
Carney-Keightley House
Carney-Keightley House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Wrightian1
Carney-Keightley HouseWrightian

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Fenton, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 4,360

Between 146 and 4,360 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Fenton

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

See all →
Ken SchraderAmerican racing driver · b. 1955
Mike WallaceAmerican stock car racing driver · b. 1959
Lyle BouckUS Army officer · b. 1923
J
Josh ArnoldAmerican comedian and radio personality · b. 1978
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Fenton’s post office has been open since 1833.

Gone or out of use
Fritschle FieldairportSteubs FieldairportWeiss Airportairport
1cemetery inside Fenton
Saint Pauls

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Sunset Hills3 historic placesC−MurphyIts storyD

Questions about Fenton’s history

What year was Fenton founded?

In 1818, according to Wikidata. Fenton’s post office opened in 1833, and the census of 1900 counted 160 people here.

How does Fenton rank for history?

Fenton is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #125 of 247 in Missouri. 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.

What is on the National Register in Fenton?

One place: the Carney-Keightley House (listed 2010).

How old are the homes in Fenton?

1% of Fenton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1989.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.