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DHistory
History · Gladstone

Gladstone’s post office opened in 1957, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #224 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it

Most of Gladstone was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Its Register listing is the Atkins-Johnson Farmhouse Property. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1960.

1957first post office
1on the National Register
0.8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Gladstone began

When was Gladstone founded?

1957

The Gladstone post office opened in 1957, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Acme (1882) and Linden (1889), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 14,502 in 19602020 census: 27,06369 years

How historic is Gladstone?

D

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Gladstone’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gladstone is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #224 of 247 in Missouri. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gladstone’s overall grade.
Founding era1957, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.8% of homes (±0.6) · typical MO town 8.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 4 historic buildings, 1.5 per 10,000 residents · typical MO town 2.4 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 14%
NewerOlder
Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)Ahead of 9%

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 Gladstone’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Gladstone’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Gladstone are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Gladstone, and 5 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gladstone’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Gladstone had its own post office from 1957 to 1959. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Acme
1882–1900
Linden
1889–1957
Gladstone
1957–1959
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AcmeEvanstonLindenOakwood ManorThomas Heights
Gone or out of use
Acme Post Officepost officeBig Shoal Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Gladstone
White Chapel

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

The story

How Gladstone came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gladstone.

Read it all →

Settled as the area of Linden, Gladstone formally incorporated under the Missouri Constitution by popular vote in November 1952. The purpose of formation was to avoid being annexed by Kansas City.

A remnant of the mesic forested land on which Gladstone is built is preserved as the Maple Woods Natural Area, a park within Gladstone that is a National Natural Landmark. The Atkins-Johnson Farmhouse Property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gladstone, 1882 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Acme post office opens
  3. 1889Post officeThe Linden post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Acme post office closes
  6. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1943Born hereEarl Thomas Coleman is born here
  8. 1957Post officeThe Linden post office closes
  9. 1957Post officeThe Gladstone post office opens
  10. 1959Post officeThe Gladstone post office closes
By decade

Gladstone, decade by decade

Today3 recent
GladstoneMissouri2025GladstoneMissouriAtkins-Johnson Farmhouse2018Atkins-Johnson FarmhouseWalmart em Gladstone, Missouri 20112016Walmart em Gladstone, Missouri 2011
On the map

Gladstone on the map, 1935 to 1990

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

Gladstone on the 1935 USGS mapGladstone on the 1948 USGS mapGladstone on the 1951 USGS mapGladstone on the 1964 USGS mapGladstone on the 1970 USGS mapGladstone on the 1990 USGS map1935North Kansas City 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 Gladstone.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Gladstone

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Atkins-Johnson Farmhouse Property
Atkins-Johnson Farmhouse Property
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

I-House1
Atkins-Johnson Farmhouse PropertyI-House

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

People over time

Gladstone, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,0001960198020002020Peak: 27,063

Between 14,502 and 27,063 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

OakwoodIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOakviewIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOakwood ParkIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Gladstone’s history

What year was Gladstone founded?

The Gladstone post office opened in 1957, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Gladstone rank for history?

Gladstone is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #224 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 Gladstone?

One place: the Atkins-Johnson Farmhouse Property (listed 2007).

How old are the homes in Gladstone?

0.8% of Gladstone’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1973.

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 (3), 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.