Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Marthasville was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 1860.
The Marthasville post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marthasville is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Marthasville’s 47.3 sits above most of its state (87% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Marthasville’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Marthasville.
A post office called Marthasville has been in operation since 1825. The identity of namesake "Martha" is disputed.
The Herman H. Fortmann Building, Marthasville Hardware Building, and Starke-Meinershagen-Boeke Rural Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Borgmann Mill and Flanders Callaway House were formerly listed.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2026Marthasville Hardware Building
2024Glosemeyer General Store NRHP 100002039 Warren County…
2020Marthasville Hardware Company 5-22-20 2
2020Herman H Fortmann Building - Marthasville MO 5-22-20 2
2014Daniel Boone Burial Site
2014Daniel Boone Burial Site
2014Daniel Boone Burial Site
2014Daniel Boone Burial Site
2014Daniel Boone Burial Site
2004MOMap-doton-MarthasvilleEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Marthasville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Marthasville.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Marthasville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 76 people in 1860 to 1,245 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Marthasville’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Marthasville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Marthasville post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Marthasville is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Flanders Callaway House (listed 1969, the first), and 1 historic district, the Starke-Meinershagen-Boeke Rural Historic District, with 7 contributing buildings. 11 historic buildings in all.
9% of Marthasville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1988.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
