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History · Longtown

Longtown’s post office opened in 1873, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1923 on and the census since 1900.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Markkaempfer · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Longtown began

When was Longtown founded?

1873

The Longtown post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 108 in 19002020 census: 90153 years
Founding year: the first Longtown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Longtown’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 Longtown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 162 in 1920; 90 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Longtown’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Longtown’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Longtown, census by census

01001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 162

Peaked at 162 in 1920; 90 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Longtown came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Longtown.

Read it all →

Some of the earliest Europeans to put down roots in the area were English and Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settlers from Rowan, Iredell, Cabarrus, and Mecklenburg counties in North Carolina who settled to the south in Brazeau in 1817. Soon after, in 1821, they were followed by English and Scotch-Irish Methodists also hailing from North Carolina, settling in the present area of Longtown. Among the earliest families were the Abernathys, Farrars, and Rutledgers. These settlers were part of a large exodus from the Piedmont region of North Carolina following the War of 1812. In 1826 these settlers built their first log meeting house which was replaced with York Chapel Methodist church in 1836.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Longtown, 1873 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Longtown post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 162
  5. 1923On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1966Post officeThe Longtown post office closes
By decade

Longtown, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Longtown, Missouri village from Highway 612013Longtown, Missouri village from Highway 61Longtown, Missouri roadsign2013Longtown, Missouri roadsign
On the map

Longtown on the map, 1923 to 1980

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

Longtown on the 1923 USGS mapLongtown on the 1980 USGS map1923Perryville 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 Longtown.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Longtown had its own post office from 1873 to 1966.

Longtown
1873–1966
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Calvary Church
1cemetery inside Longtown
Zion Lutheran

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

Questions about Longtown’s history

What year was Longtown founded?

The Longtown post office opened in 1873, 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, 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.