Hollister’s post office opened in 1904, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #165 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Hollister was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listing is the Downing Street Historic District. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Hollister post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hollister’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hollister is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #165 of 247 in Missouri. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hollister’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 Hollister’s 25.8 sits above most of its state (83% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.4 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 Hollister’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Melinda Fortner settled in Hollister in the early 1880s, after establishing a claim on a 120-acre tract of land in 1867. Reuben Kirkham opened a general store and applied for a post office, suggesting the name Hollister after his daughter, born in Hollister, California. A post office called Hollister has been in operation since 1904.
The Downing Street Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Hollister, census by census
Grew from 111 people in 1910 to 4,583 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hollister’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Hollister’s post office has been open since 1904.
Gone or out of use
Camp IdeallocalePresbyterian AssemblylocaleSammy Lane Tourist ParklocaleShore AcreslocaleSleepy Hollow CamplocaleValley ViewlocaleYoung Mens Christian Association Camplocale
1cemetery inside Hollister
Ellison
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.
The Hollister post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hollister rank for history?
Hollister is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #165 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 Hollister?
One place: the Downing Street Historic District (listed 1978).
How old are the homes in Hollister?
4% of Hollister’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1990.
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, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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