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History · Laredo

Laredo’s post office opened in 1887, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1946 on and the census since 1900.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Robert Huffstutter · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Laredo began

When was Laredo founded?

1887

The Laredo post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 286 in 19002020 census: 156139 years
Founding year: the first Laredo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Laredo’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Laredo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,421 in 1940; 156 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Laredo’s homes were built before 1944.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Laredo’s collection

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

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

Laredo, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,421

Peaked at 1,421 in 1940; 156 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story so far

Laredo, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Laredo yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Laredo is a city in Grundy County, Missouri, United States. The population was 156 at the 2020 census. Laredo is pronounced "la-read-oh" which varies from the traditional pronunciation.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 198 to 156 (-21%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Laredo, 1887 to 1946

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Laredo post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Born hereClyde Tolson is born here
  5. 1938Born hereRex Barnett is born here
  6. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 1,421
  7. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Laredo on the map, 1946 to 1984

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

Laredo on the 1946 USGS mapLaredo on the 1984 USGS map1946Galt 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 Laredo.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Laredo

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

See all →
Clyde TolsonAssociate director of the FBI · b. 1900
R
Rex BarnettAmerican politician · b. 1938

Questions about Laredo’s history

What year was Laredo founded?

The Laredo post office opened in 1887, 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 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.