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History · Lewistown

Lewistown’s post office opened in 1897, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Quincy, Missouri, and Pacific Railroad Station. Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1880.

1897first post office
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lewistown began

When was Lewistown founded?

1897

The Lewistown post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lewiston (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 127 in 18802020 census: 521129 years
Founding year: the first Lewistown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lewistown’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 Lewistown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lewistown’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lewistown’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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The story

How Lewistown came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lewistown.

Read it all →

Lewistown was platted in 1871 when the railroad was extended to that point. The community took its name from Lewis County. A post office called Lewiston was established in 1872, and the name was changed to Lewistown in 1897.

The Quincy, Missouri, and Pacific Railroad Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lewistown, 1872 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Lewiston post office opens
  3. 1885Born hereJohn Robert Murdock is born here
  4. 1897Post officeThe Lewiston post office closes
  5. 1897Post officeThe Lewistown post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lewistown, decade by decade

Today2 recent
First Baptist Church2024First Baptist ChurchMOMap-doton-Lewistown2004MOMap-doton-Lewistown
On the map

Lewistown on the map, 1950 to 1975

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

Lewistown on the 1950 USGS mapLewistown on the 1975 USGS map1950Lewistown 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 Lewistown.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Lewistown

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
1979
Quincy, Missouri, and Pacific Railroad Station
Quincy, Missouri, and Pacific Railroad Station
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
All 1 listings
Quincy, Missouri, and Pacific Railroad StationBuilding · listed 1979

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

People over time

Lewistown, census by census

010020030040050060018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 615

Between 127 and 615 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Lewistown’s post office has been open since 1897. Another post office, Lewiston, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lewiston
1872–1897
Lewistown
1897–today
18701950today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Lewistown’s history

What year was Lewistown founded?

The Lewistown post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Lewistown?

One place: the Quincy, Missouri, and Pacific Railroad Station (listed 1979).

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), 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) 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.