Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Christian and Anna Keller Farmstead and the Old Gerald School. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1941 on, and the census since 1910.
The Gerald post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Shotwell (1855), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gerald is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Gerald’s 14.6 sits above most of its state (76% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gerald’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Gerald.
Gerald was platted in 1901 along a railroad line. The community was named after the local Fitzgerald family. A post office called Gerald has been in operation since 1901.
The Christian and Anna Keller Farmstead and Old Gerald School are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2024Rock Island Trail State Park
2024Rock Island Trail State Park
2024Rock Island Trail State Park
2024Rock Island Trail State Park
2024Rock Island Trail State Park
2024Rock Island Trail State Park
2024Rock Island Trail State Park
2024Rock Island Trail State Park
2024Rock Island Trail State Park
2004MOMap-doton-GeraldEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gerald. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gerald.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Gerald’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 225 people in 1910 to 1,361 in 2020, 6 times over.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gerald’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Gerald itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Gerald’s post office has been open since 1901. Another post office, Shotwell, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Gerald post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Gerald is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. 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.
Two places: the Christian and Anna Keller Farmstead (listed 2009) and the Old Gerald School (2014).
16% of Gerald’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1977.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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.
1913
