Jefferson City dates to 1821, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #24 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
47 places in town are on the National Register, among them ten historic districts with 503 buildings between them. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1823.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Jefferson City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jefferson City is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #24 of 247 in Missouri. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jefferson City’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 Jefferson City’s 144 sits above most of its state (93% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 612 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1821.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Jefferson City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Jefferson City, building by building, 1885–1923
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.
In pre-Columbian times, this region was home of an ancient people known today as the Mound Builders, likely related to the Mississippian societies. They were subsequently replaced by Osage Native Americans. In the late 17th century, frontiersmen began to inhabit the area, including Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, Louis Jolliet, Jacques Marquette, Robert de LaSalle, and Daniel Boone, with the latter having the greatest influence on the region. Famed Western explorer and settler Daniel Boone's son, Daniel Morgan Boone (1769–1839), would later lay out and plat Jefferson City in the early 19th century.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jefferson City. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1939Jefferson City 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 Jefferson City.
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.
Retake this viewMeyers Universum Band 15 44, 1852
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Jefferson City’s page.
Grew from 3,082 people in 1860 to 43,228 in 2020, more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jefferson City’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Scruggs, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Jefferson City
1823–today
Cedar City
1870–today
Scruggs
1882–1905
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cedar CityCole JunctionNorth JeffersonScruggs
Gone or out of use
Forest Hill SchoolschoolGrand View SchoolschoolHarmony SchoolschoolMount Hope SchoolschoolSchumate Chapelchurch
10cemeteries and burying grounds inside Jefferson City
FairviewHawthorn Memorial GardensJefferson City NationalLong ViewOsage CityResurrectionRiverviewSaint Peters Cemetery Number 1Saint Peters Cemetery Number 2Woodland - Old City
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Jefferson City’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
In 1821, according to Wikidata. Jefferson City’s post office opened in 1823, and the census of 1860 counted 3,082 people here.
How does Jefferson City rank for history?
Jefferson City is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #24 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 Jefferson City?
47 listings: 32 buildings, among them the Lohman's Landing Building (listed 1969, the first), 13 historic districts with 503 contributing buildings, and 2 sites. 612 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Jefferson City?
11% of Jefferson City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (47), Wikipedia, 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.
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