Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Miller, Joseph M., Mausoleum. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.
Holden dates its founding to 1857 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.
Holden was named for Major Nathaniel Holden, a local politician who was instrumental in bringing the railroad to the area.
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Holden is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Holden’s 5.0 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Holden’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Holden. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Holden.
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.
1885Sheet 2 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Holden.
Holden was laid out in 1857. It was named for Major Nathaniel Holden, a local politician who was instrumental in bringing the railroad to the area.
Anti-saloon advocate Carrie Nation lived in Holden in the 1870s, where she worked as a teacher.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Holden, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Sec. 2. Tbat the inhabitants of said town of Holden be, and they are hereby constituted a body corporate and politic by tha manner and style of the town of Holden, and by that name shall base perpetual succession, and may have and use a common seal, which they may change and alter at pleasure.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Postoffice. — For several years before the town of Holden was laid out, there was a postoffice northeast of its present site, a few hundred yards on the line of the stage route running from Jefferson City to Independence.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Holden cemetery was regularly laid out and platted by Luther \\'agner. a civil engineer, and the plat recorded Alay 17, 1869, and at that time about one hundred and twenty-five graves were removed from the old burying ground to the new one. The new cemetery is under control and jurisdiction of the city of Holden and is located about one and one-fourth miles southwest of the Missouri Pacific depot and originally contained ten acres, but additions have since been made and a concrete sidewalk was built to it.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1857. It seems that according to a contract with the railroad company the depot was to be erected on Colonel Grover's land, forty acres of which were donated for that purpose, but by mistake or otherwise, it was located on Major Holden's land, one-half mile further west. Holden street, on the west side of which the depot is located, is the dividing line between Grover's and Holden's Addition. Alartin \\'arren's old log house stood in the Grover Addition and Colonel Grover resided there for a time. The memory of the old log house will be forever
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveBird's eye view of the city of Holden, Johnson Co., Missouri 1869
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereHooks Cotter is born here
BuiltMiller, Joseph M., Mausoleum is built
Born hereJim Chaney is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Holden’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 59 and 2,520 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Holden’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1857, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Holden’s post office opened in 1859, and the census of 1860 counted 59 people here.
Holden is more historic than 66% 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.
One place: the Miller, Joseph M., Mausoleum (listed 2018).
29% of Holden’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 1967.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
