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History · Jamesport

Jamesport’s post office opened in 1857, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1917 on and the census since 1860.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Jamesport began

When was Jamesport founded?

1857

The Jamesport post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 59 in 18602020 census: 559169 years
Founding year: the first Jamesport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Jamesport’s past

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

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Jamesport’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
People over time

Jamesport, census by census

0200400600800190019502000Peak: 884

Peaked at 884 in 1920; 559 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

The story

How Jamesport came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Jamesport.

Read it all →

A post office called Jamesport has been in operation since 1857. The community's name honors two first settlers with the given name James, namely James Gillilan and James Allen.

Jamesport has the largest Amish community in the state of Missouri.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Jamesport, 1857 to 1922

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Jamesport post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1912Born hereMartha Scott is born here
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 884
  6. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Jamesport, decade by decade

On the map

Jamesport on the map, 1922 to 1984

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

Jamesport on the 1922 USGS mapJamesport on the 1984 USGS map1922Gallatin sheet · 1:62,500

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

Every building

Jamesport, building by building, 1917

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.

Jamesport fire insurance map, 1917, sheet 11917Sheet 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.

Questions about Jamesport’s history

What year was Jamesport founded?

The Jamesport post office opened in 1857, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.