Grand Pass was named from the Great Osage Trail that passed through the town.
In 1943, German and Italian prisoners of World War II were brought to Missouri and other Midwest states as a means of solving the labor shortage caused by American men serving in the war effort. Camp Funston at Fort Riley established 12 smaller branch camps, including Grand Pass.
The Gumbo Point Archeological Site and Santa Fe Trail-Grand Pass Trail Segments are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Passages that mention Grand Pass, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Saline County, Missouri, carefully written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources ... with a condensed history of Missouri1881 · page 437Read the page →
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The Grand Pass which gives its name to the lake near by, and to the township, and to the church at the pass, is a narrow pass of high bluff land from one hundred to five hundred yards wide, between the waters of Salt Fork on the one side, and the lakes in the river bottom on the other. In the early settlement of the county the great thoroughfare of emigration and traders to Santa Fe ran through the pass, and the name of Grand Pass was given to it by them.
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History of Saline County, Missouri, carefully written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources ... with a condensed history of Missouri1881 · page 115Read the page →
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Salt Branch, though no larger than many other streams in the county, is remarkable for taking its rise in the " Great Salt Springs," in Elmwood township, and from the extreme saltness of its waters, which enter Salt Fork, in Grand Pass township, about ten miles after it enters the county, and impart to it that saline character, from which it takes its name, " Salt Fork of Blackwater." Above the mouth of Salt Branch, in Grand Pass township, the waters of Salt Fork are sweet and without a trace of salt, while, below the mouth of Salt Branch, the water is so decidedly salty
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2004