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History · Mendon

Mendon dates to 1871, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1890.

1871founded
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mendon’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mendon began

When was Mendon founded?

1871

Mendon dates its founding to 1871 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 137 in 18902020 census: 163155 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1866.The full story ↓

What stands out about Mendon’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 408 in 1910; 163 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Mendon’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mendon’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMendon Depot 1910: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Mendon, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 408

Peaked at 408 in 1910; 163 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Mendon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mendon.

Read it all →

Mendon was laid out a mile and a quarter from its current location in 1871 by Christopher Shupe. Shupe named it for his previous home place, Mendon, Illinois, which incorporated in 1867 and was named for Mendon, Massachusetts, incorporated precisely two centuries earlier, in 1667.

The Missouri area had been known as "Salt Creek", and businesses were in operation several years prior to the town plat actually being filed. Among the earliest was a general store built around 1865 by Mr. Bostich and Mr. Eastman. A Methodist church was erected in 1866. A sawmill was located five miles east of the town.

ChaptersToday

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mendon, 1866 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Salt Creek post office opens
  3. 1870Post officeThe Salt Creek post office closes
  4. 1871
    FoundingMendon is established
  5. 1872Post officeThe Mendon post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1910In the archiveMendon Depot 1910
  8. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 408
  9. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Mendon, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Mendon Depot 19101910Mendon Depot 1910
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
NTSB investigation party in2022NTSB investigation party inMendon Missouri sign2020Mendon Missouri signMendon Cemetery-Mendon Missouri-Chariton County2020Mendon Cemetery-Mendon Missouri-Chariton County
On the map

Mendon on the map, 1949 to 1979

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

Mendon on the 1949 USGS mapMendon on the 1979 USGS map1949Mendon 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 Mendon.

Every building

Mendon, building by building, 1914

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Mendon fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Mendon Depot 1910
Retake this viewMendon Depot 1910, 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mendon’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Mendon

Nobody well known was born in Mendon itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
John J. PershingUnited States Army general in World War I · b. 1860
J. William FulbrightAmerican politician · b. 1905
Barbara SinatraAmerican model, showgirl, and socialite; wife o… · b. 1927
Robert SimpsonAmerican hurdler and track and field coach · b. 1892
R
Roberta FulbrightAmerican journalist, newspaper editor, business… · b. 1874
Marian AinsleeAmerican screenwriter · b. 1896
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Mendon’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Salt Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Salt Creek
1866–1870
Mendon
1872–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Mendon’s history

What year was Mendon founded?

In 1871, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Mendon’s post office opened in 1866, and the census of 1890 counted 137 people here.

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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.