The story
Read it all →How Foster came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Foster.
A post office called Foster has been in operation since 1883. The village was named after Charles Foster, governor of Ohio.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Foster
Foster’s post office opened in 1883, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1938 on, and the census since 1890.
1883first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Quick answers
How Foster began
When was Foster founded?
1883
The Foster post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 513 in 18902020 census: 76143 years
Founding year: the first Foster post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Foster’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Foster’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Foster’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Foster, 1897–1918
Passages that mention Foster, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Bates County, Missouri1918 · page 470Read the page →
Read the text
and in 1867, came out West and made a settlement in Jackson county, Missouri, where he resided until 1880. In that year he located in Bates county, living on a farm near Worland, until his removal to a farm near Foster. When the town of Foster was started, he engaged in the livery and transfer business and also carried the mail for several years. I^ater, he engaged in the grocery business after disposing of his livery business. When the town, or business section, of Foster was destroyed by fire, his place of business was burned out and he then went to Okla-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Bates County, Missouri1918 · page I94Read the page →
Read the text
The subsequent life of La Bette City was short and like Foster in Bates county, practically only a postofiice and railroad depot were left and the townsite reverted to farm lands. Being let out. Mr. Stevens turned up with his St. Louis & New Mexico enterprise and it was much talked of at Butler and several meetings were held in its interest but nothing of a definite understanding resulted and after the spring of 1871 the enthusiasm in regard to this scheme died out and the north and south road enterprises gained friends and while there was some
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The old settlers' history of Bates County, Missouri1897Read the page →
Read the text
FOSTER. Foster was boru on a boom. First called Walnut, it was re-christened in honor of Gov. Foster, of Ohio, who was at the head of the company which laid out the town in 1884. Lots were sold rapidly and at a high price. Many buildings were erected, and Foster was to rival, if not surpass, the mining town of Rich Hill. But the company failed to carry through its original plans, and her coal tieids have not been extensively developed. After the collapse of the
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.
By decade
Foster, decade by decade
Date unknown1 to date
Date?On the map
Foster on the map, 1938 to 1991
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Foster. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1938Worland sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Foster.
People over time
Foster, census by census
Between 76 and 513 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Foster’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Foster’s post office has been open since 1883.
Gone or out of use
Foster Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Foster
Salem
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Foster’s history
What year was Foster founded?
The Foster post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), 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.