The Granby post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Granby City (1871), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,882 in 18802020 census: 2,050170 years
How historic is Granby?
C+
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Granby post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Granby’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Granby is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Granby’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 Granby’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 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 Granby’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.
1894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
In 1850, while traveling through Missouri on his way to St. Louis, Missouri, William Foster discovered galena ore while digging along Gum Spring Branch (Creek) on the property of settler Madison Vickery. Mr. Foster & Mr. Vickery opened the first shaft harvesting this ore, leading to the "Granby Stampede" two years later, a mine rush that populated the town. A post office was founded in Granby and has been in operation since 1856. The community took its name from Granby, Massachusetts.That same year, the towns first railroad tracks were laid. In 1857, Peter F. Blow and F. B. Kennett formed The Granby Mining and Smelting Company to smelt the mined lead. By 1859, Granby was a boom town of more than 8,000 people. The Granby Mining and Smelting Company lasted throughout most of the Civil War, held at various times by both Union and Confederate troops, until the Confederates finally blew up t…
Between 1,400 and 2,442 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Granby’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Granby’s post office has been open since 1856. Another post office, Granby City, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Granby
1856–today
Granby City
1871–1875
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Granby City
1cemetery inside Granby
Granby Memorial
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Granby’s history
What year was Granby founded?
The Granby post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Granby rank for history?
Granby is more historic than 37% 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.
How old are the homes in Granby?
18% of Granby’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (4), 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?
2016
2004
