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History · Gordonville

Gordonville’s post office opened in 1881, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1922 on and the census since 1880.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Gordonville began, and where its name came from

When was Gordonville founded?

1881

The Gordonville post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Peoples (1853), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 81 in 18802020 census: 625145 years

How did Gordonville get its name?

Gordonville was named after Sam Gordon, who established a watermill on the same site where the Gordonville Milling Company operated.

Founding year: the first Gordonville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Gordonville’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 Gordonville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1910 and 1960, then grew 6-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gordonville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gordonville’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
People over time

Gordonville, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020170 in 1910Low: 92

Lost half of its people between 1910 and 1960, then grew 6-fold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Gordonville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gordonville.

Read it all →

The land around present-day Gordonville was originally owned by Sam Gordon and his father, who lived in Indiana. Sam Gordon established the first store in the town in either 1857 or 1858, and the town became known as Gordonville. The first church in the town was set up by Methodist missionaries on the farm of Louis Siemers in 1848, with Liberty School house being established shortly later. Hubble Mill and Gordonville Roller Mills were established along Hubble Creek.

In the 1850s, German immigrants began to move into the area and established farms around Gordonville. A German Methodist church and a German Lutheran church were also organized just south of Gordonville to serve the local German population.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gordonville, 1853 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853Post officeThe Peoples post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Peoples post office closes
  4. 1881Post officeThe Gordonville post office opens
  5. 1890Born hereFred Henry McGuire is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 625
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Gordonville on the map, 1922 to 1967

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

Gordonville on the 1922 USGS mapGordonville on the 1967 USGS map1922Cape Girardeau 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 Gordonville.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Gordonville’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, Peoples, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Peoples
1853–1881
Gordonville
1881–today
18501940today

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

Questions about Gordonville’s history

What year was Gordonville founded?

The Gordonville post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.