Fredericktown’s post office opened in 1827, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #34 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 26 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1890.
From Fredericktown’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Fredericktown began
When was Fredericktown founded?
1827
The Fredericktown post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Saint Michaels (1816), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 917 in 18902020 census: 4,429199 years
How historic is Fredericktown?
A−
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fredericktown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fredericktown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fredericktown is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #34 of 247 in Missouri. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fredericktown’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 Fredericktown’s 66.6 sits above most of its state (89% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 30 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 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 Fredericktown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The history of Fredericktown revolves around the history of lead mining. The earliest beginnings
of Fredericktown occurred around 1715 when local Indians guided French explorers to the area, which at that time was part of Upper Louisiana, in order to show them sources of lead which the French had hoped would also contain silver.
The French governor of Louisiana, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, failed to find silver, but succeeded in recruiting other French investors in the Company of the West, organized in 1717, to exploit the mineral resources of Louisiana.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fredericktown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Fredericktown sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fredericktown.
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.
Retake this viewPencil Sketch of Fredericktown, Missouri by Emile Herzinger, 1875
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fredericktown’s page.
The Fredericktown post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fredericktown rank for history?
Fredericktown is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #34 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 Fredericktown?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Fredericktown Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot (listed 2000, the first), and 1 historic district, the Fredericktown Courthouse Square Historic District, with 26 contributing buildings. 30 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Fredericktown?
11% of Fredericktown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?
Date?
2014
2014
2004
2002
