Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Henrietta

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Henrietta

Henrietta’s post office opened in 1908, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1943 on.

1908first post office
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Henrietta’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Henrietta began

When was Henrietta founded?

1908

The Henrietta post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Henry (1869), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 278118 years
Founding year: the first Henrietta post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Henrietta’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Henrietta’s homes were built before 1949.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Henrietta’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHenrietta, Missouri. Going through the …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Henrietta came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Henrietta.

Read it all →

Henrietta was platted in 1868, and named after Henrietta Watkins, the wife of a first settler. A variant name was "Henry". A post office called Henry was established in 1869, and the name was changed to Henrietta in 1908.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Henrietta, 1869 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Henry post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908Post officeThe Henry post office closes
  5. 1908Post officeThe Henrietta post office opens
  6. 1932Born hereHank Burnine is born here
  7. 1943In the archiveHenrietta, Missouri. Going through the town on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroa…
By decade

Henrietta, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Henrietta, Missouri. Going through the town on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad between Marceline, Missouri …1943Henrietta, Missouri. Going through the town on the At…
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Lexington Bridge, Spanning Missouri River at State Route 13, Lexington, Lafayette County, MODate?Lexington Bridge, Spanning Missouri River at State Ro…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Henrietta, Missouri. Going through the town on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad between Marceline, Missouri …
Retake this viewHenrietta, Missouri. Going through the town on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad between Marceline, Missouri …, 1943

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Henrietta’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Henrietta’s post office has been open since 1908. Another post office, Henry, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Henry
1869–1908
Henrietta
1908–today
18601940today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Richmond4 historic placesA−

Questions about Henrietta’s history

What year was Henrietta founded?

The Henrietta post office opened in 1908, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.