Hannibal dates to 1819, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #6 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
31 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Mark Twain Boyhood Home, a National Historic Landmark, and six historic districts with 486 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1820.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hannibal’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hannibal is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #6 of 247 in Missouri. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hannibal’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 Hannibal’s 308 sits above most of its state (97% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 517 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.3 points). Two sources give 1819.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Hannibal’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Hannibal, building by building, 1885–1913
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.
The site of Hannibal was originally inhabited by various cultures of indigenous Native American tribes. Hannibal is home to Osterhout Mounds Park, a preservation of ancient Indian burial mounds.
The river community was the mid-19th-century boyhood home of author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (aka Mark Twain, 1835–1910). Twain drew from his childhood settings for his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Numerous historical sites are associated with Mark Twain and the places depicted in his fiction.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1819, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hannibal’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1850 counted 2,020 people here.
How does Hannibal rank for history?
Hannibal is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #6 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 Hannibal?
31 listings: 23 buildings, among them the Mark Twain Boyhood Home (a National Historic Landmark since 1962), 6 historic districts with 486 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure. 517 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Hannibal?
31% of Hannibal’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (31), 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.
★ Landmark
1857
1857
1867
1869
1904
