Kennett’s post office opened in 1860, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #137 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Kennett was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Its Register listings are the Ely and Walker Shirt Factory No. 5 and the Kennett City Hall and Masonic Lodge. Its Register listings are the Ely and Walker Shirt Factory No. 5 and the Kennett City Hall and Masonic Lodge. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1934 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Kennett post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kennett’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kennett is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #137 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 Kennett’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 Kennett’s 2.0 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Kennett’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Settlers built log cabins in the area in the first half of the 19th century, naming their settlement Chilletecaux in honor of a Delaware Indian chief who lived there. The town was renamed Butler in the late 1840s. Due to mail delivery problems because of other jurisdictions named the same, the settlement was renamed Kennett, in honor of the mayor of the city of St. Louis, Luther M. Kennett.
In the 1890s, a railroad reached the area, stimulating growth in the town. In that same period, the state began construction of a massive drainage program in the St. Francis River basin, which was floodplain and wetlands. In the 20th century, after timber clearing, the area was developed for cultivation of cotton and other commodity crops.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Kennett post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kennett rank for history?
Kennett is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #137 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 Kennett?
Two places: the Ely and Walker Shirt Factory No. 5 (listed 2008) and the Kennett City Hall and Masonic Lodge (1981).
How old are the homes in Kennett?
7% of Kennett’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1969.
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), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (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) 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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