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AHistory
History · Fulton

Fulton’s post office opened in 1825, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #13 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it

12 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Westminster College Gymnasium, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 141 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1870.

1825first post office
12on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
15famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fulton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fulton began

When was Fulton founded?

1825

The Fulton post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,585 in 18702020 census: 12,600201 years

How historic is Fulton?

A

More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Fulton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Fulton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fulton is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #13 of 247 in Missouri. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fulton’s overall grade.
Founding era1825, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194017.2% of homes (±5.4) · typical MO town 8.4% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register12 listings, 159 historic buildings, 126 per 10,000 residents · typical MO town 2.4 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%
NewerOlder
Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)Ahead of 95%

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 Fulton’s 126 sits above most of its state (93% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 159 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 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 Fulton’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A National Historic Landmark12 places on the National Register, including Westminster College Gymnasium, a National Historic Landmark.A historic districtThe Court Street Historic Residential District takes in 84 historic buildings.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1884 to 1917, drew every building in Fulton.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fulton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewNesbeth Mansion, Old Fulton Road: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

12 listings protect 159 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
12
National Historic Landmark
1
Westminster College Gymnasium
historic buildings protected
159
each building in a district counts
first listed
1968
Westminster College Gymnasium
John Augustus Hockaday HouseDr. George M. Willing HouseWestminster College Historic District, built 1851Bell, M. Fred, Speculative Cottage, built 1893Carver, George Washington, SchoolBell, M. Fred, Rental Cottage, built 1893Robnett-Payne HouseBrandon-Bell-Collier HouseDowntown Fulton Historic DistrictCourt Street Historic Residential DistrictMiddle River SchoolWestminster College Gymnasium★
BuildingsDistricts★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne3
Greek Revival2
Italianate2
Vernacular1
I-house1
Bungalow1
★ Landmark
Westminster College GymnasiumBuilding
John Augustus Hockaday HouseVernacular
Dr. George M. Willing HouseGreek Revival
Westminster College Historic DistrictBuilt 1851
Bell, M. Fred, Speculative CottageQueen Anne · Built 1893
Carver, George Washington, SchoolBuilding
Bell, M. Fred, Rental CottageQueen Anne · Built 1893
Robnett-Payne HouseGreek Revival
All 12 listings
Brandon-Bell-Collier HouseBuilding · listed 1998Downtown Fulton Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2004Court Street Historic Residential DistrictDistrict · listed 2007Middle River SchoolBuilding · listed 2024

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

The story

How Fulton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fulton.

Read it all →

Fulton was founded and became the seat of Callaway County in 1825, although it would not be incorporated until March 14, 1859. At its founding, the city was named Volney after Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney, but two months later renamed itself to honor engineer and inventor Robert Fulton. (There is a town in Oswego County, New York, named Volney after the Frenchman; it contains the village of Fulton, also named for the inventor.)

The early residents of Fulton were from predominantly southern culture. The coastal and upland southerners that settled the land brought with them enslaved people and established an agricultural economy.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fulton, 1825 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1825Post officeThe Fulton post office opens
  3. 1851BuiltWestminster College Historic District is built
  4. 1883Born hereDixie Kid is born here
  5. 1893BuiltBell, M. Fred, Speculative Cottage is built
  6. 1893BuiltBell, M. Fred, Rental Cottage is built
  7. 20th century
  8. 1918Born hereHelen Stephens is born here
  9. 1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1953Born hereWilliam F. Baker is born here
  11. 1959Born hereNick Cave is born here
  12. 1968LandmarkWestminster College Gymnasium named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Fulton, decade by decade

Date unknown4 to date
Journal of the Iowa State Medical SocietyDate?Journal of the Iowa State Medical SocietyBookNesbeth Mansion, Old Fulton RoadDate?Nesbeth Mansion, Old Fulton RoadCourthouseDate?CourthouseJudge Irving Hockaday HouseDate?Judge Irving Hockaday House
Today26 recent
The Brick District Playhouse2026The Brick District PlayhouseFulton, Missouri2026Fulton, MissouriDisplay at America's National Churchill Museum on the campus of Westminster College2021Display at America's National Churchill Museum on the…Display at America's National Churchill Museum on the campus of Westminster College2021Display at America's National Churchill Museum on the…Display at America's National Churchill Museum on the campus of Westminster College2021Display at America's National Churchill Museum on the…Display at America's National Churchill Museum on the campus of Westminster College2021Display at America's National Churchill Museum on the…A portion of the Berlin Wall, preserved at Westminster College2021A portion of the Berlin Wall, preserved at Westminste…A portion of the Berlin Wall, preserved at Westminster College2021A portion of the Berlin Wall, preserved at Westminste…Statue of Winston Churchill outside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, a seventeenth-century Engl…2021Statue of Winston Churchill outside the rebuilt Churc…The gymnasium at Westminster College2021The gymnasium at Westminster CollegeThe gymnasium at Westminster College2021The gymnasium at Westminster CollegeOriginal stairway inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, is a seventeenth-century English chur…2021Original stairway inside the rebuilt Church of St. Ma…Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, is a seventeenth-century English church now locat…2021Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgi…Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, is a seventeenth-century English church now locat…2021Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgi…Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, is a seventeenth-century English church now locat…2021Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgi…Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, is a seventeenth-century English church now locat…2021Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgi…Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, is a seventeenth-century English church now locat…2021Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgi…Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, is a seventeenth-century English church now locat…2021Scene inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgi…Sanctuary inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, is a seventeenth-century English church now l…2021Sanctuary inside the rebuilt Church of St. Mary the V…The rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, is a seventeenth-century English church now located on the cam…2021The rebuilt Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbu…New" Westminster Hall, the main building of Westminster College2021New" Westminster Hall, the main building of Westminst…The former columns of Westminster Hall, saved after a fire destroyed the building at Westminster College2021The former columns of Westminster Hall, saved after a…Worker in Fulton, Missouri welds a part of a truck on Sept. 22, 20152015Worker in Fulton, Missouri welds a part of a truck on…HPIM4287 Berlin wall recreated at2012HPIM4287 Berlin wall recreated at2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookF1 tornado mobile home damage2001F1 tornado mobile home damage
On the map

Fulton on the map, 1928 to 2000

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

Fulton on the 1928 USGS mapFulton on the 1931 USGS mapFulton on the 1975 USGS mapFulton on the 1985 USGS mapFulton on the 2000 USGS map1928Fulton 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 Fulton.

Every building

Fulton, building by building, 1884–1917

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.

Fulton fire insurance map, 1884, sheet 11884Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Nesbeth Mansion, Old Fulton Road
Retake this viewNesbeth Mansion, Old Fulton Road

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Fulton, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 12,790

Between 1,585 and 12,790 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

15 famous people were born in Fulton

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

See all →
Helen StephensAthletics competitor · b. 1918
William F. BakerCivil engineer · b. 1953
Dixie KidAmerican boxer · b. 1883
Nick CaveAfrican-American fabric sculptor, dancer, and p… · b. 1959
H
Henry BellamannAmerican writer · b. 1882
Bake McBrideAmerican baseball player · b. 1949
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Fulton’s post office has been open since 1825.

Gone or out of use
Carver SchoolschoolCenter SchoolschoolRice Middle SchoolschoolSaint Eunice Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fulton
Callaway Memorial GardensDunlapHillcrestSouthside

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

Questions about Fulton’s history

What year was Fulton founded?

The Fulton post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Fulton rank for history?

Fulton is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #13 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 Fulton?

12 listings: 10 buildings, among them the Westminster College Gymnasium (a National Historic Landmark since 1968), and 2 historic districts, the Downtown Fulton Historic District and the Court Street Historic Residential District, with 141 contributing buildings. 159 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Fulton?

17% of Fulton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1969.

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 (7), the Library of Congress (23), Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (12), 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.