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History · Humansville

Humansville’s post office opened in 1839, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Dimmitt, George, Memorial Hospital. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1880.

1839first post office
1on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Humansville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Humansville began

When was Humansville founded?

1839

The Humansville post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 328 in 18802020 census: 907187 years
Founding year: the first Humansville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Humansville’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1839: 187 years of Humansville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Humansville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view"The War in Missouri - General Jim Lane…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Humansville, 1839 to 1944

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Humansville post office opens
  3. 1861In the archive"The War in Missouri - General Jim Lane's Camp, Near Humansville, Missouri."
  4. 1886Born hereZoë Akins is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903Born hereEdgar Buchanan is born here
  7. 1943Born hereBillie Moore is born here
  8. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Humansville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Humansville.

Read it all →

Humansville was named after an American settler James Human who settled in the area in 1834. A post office called Humansville has been in operation since 1839.

During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought on the town's outskirts on March 26, 1862, in which approximately 300 to 400 Missouri Confederates under Col. James M. Frazier of Cedar County clashed with two companies of pro-Union Missouri State Militia. Casualties were few, but Col. Frazier was himself mortally wounded, which caused the Confederates to retreat.

The George Dimmitt Memorial Hospital was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Humansville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
"The War in Missouri - General Jim Lane's Camp, Near Humansville, Missouri."1861"The War in Missouri - General Jim Lane's Camp, Near …
Today3 recent
Humansville, MO2024Humansville, MOGeorge Dimmitt Memorial Hospital2015George Dimmitt Memorial HospitalMOMap-doton-Humansville2004MOMap-doton-Humansville
On the map

Humansville on the map, 1944 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Humansville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Humansville on the 1944 USGS mapHumansville on the 1991 USGS map1944Humansville sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Humansville.

Every building

Humansville, building by building, 1918

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 sheet.

Humansville fire insurance map, 1918, sheet 11918Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

"The War in Missouri - General Jim Lane's Camp, Near Humansville, Missouri."
Retake this view"The War in Missouri - General Jim Lane's Camp, Near Humansville, Missouri.", 1861

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Humansville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2012
Dimmitt, George, Memorial Hospital
Dimmitt, George, Memorial Hospital
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1
Dimmitt, George, Memorial HospitalColonial Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Humansville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,084

Between 328 and 1,084 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Humansville’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Humansville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Edgar BuchananAmerican actor · b. 1903
Zoë AkinsPlaywright, poet, author · b. 1886
Billie MooreAmerican basketball coach · b. 1943

Questions about Humansville’s history

What year was Humansville founded?

The Humansville post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Humansville?

One place: the Dimmitt, George, Memorial Hospital (listed 2012).

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 Wikimedia Commons (4), 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 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.