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History · Novinger

Novinger’s post office opened in 1879, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1880.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Novinger’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Novinger began

When was Novinger founded?

1879

The Novinger post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 32 in 18802020 census: 383147 years
Founding year: the first Novinger post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Novinger’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,743 in 1920; 383 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Novinger’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Novinger’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewNovinger Coal Museum: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Novinger, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,743

Peaked at 1,743 in 1920; 383 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Novinger came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Novinger.

Read it all →

Key events in Novinger history include the arrival of the Quincy, Missouri & Pacific railroad and filing of the town plat by founder John C. Novinger in 1878, the establishment of a U.S. Post Office the next year, and the first shaft coal mine in 1883. A turn-of-the-century coal mining boom saw Welsh, Germans, Scots-Irish, Italians, natives of the Balkan countries and many others and their families immigrate from all over the world. It was this boom that finally saw Novinger incorporated as a city in 1901 as the population swelled into the thousands. However, the Great Depression, a post-World War II switch to mostly natural gas and electric heat in American homes, and heavy industry's lessening coal use doomed the area coal fields. The railroads had pulled out by 1950, and the last mine, Billy Creek Coal Mine southwest of Novinger, closed in January 1966. At the time of its closing Bil…

ChaptersNovinger today

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Novinger, 1879 to 1997

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Novinger post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,743
  5. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1997In the archiveNovinger Coal Museum
By decade

Novinger, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s2 items
Novinger Coal Museum1997Novinger Coal MuseumNovinger MO LOG HOMESTEAD1997Novinger MO LOG HOMESTEAD
Date unknown1 to date
Rombauer Coal MineDate?Rombauer Coal Mine
Today4 recent
CharitonCatfish12012CharitonCatfish1Reese Family Log Barn2007Reese Family Log BarnLog Smokehouse2007Log SmokehouseMOMap-doton-Novinger2004MOMap-doton-Novinger
On the map

Novinger on the map, 1938 to 1974

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

Novinger on the 1938 USGS mapNovinger on the 1940 USGS mapNovinger on the 1974 USGS map1938Kirksville 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 Novinger.

Every building

Novinger, building by building, 1915

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.

Novinger fire insurance map, 1915, sheet 11915Sheet 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.

Rombauer Coal Mine
Retake this viewRombauer Coal Mine

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Novinger

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

See all →
Geraldine PageAmerican actress · b. 1924
G
Gordon BellAmerican computer engineer · b. 1934
Farrell DobbsAmerican labour organizer, left-wing politician… · b. 1907
Rhonda VincentAmerican musician · b. 1962
Rupert HughesAmerican writer · b. 1872
J
John WimberAmerican charismatic minister · b. 1934

Questions about Novinger’s history

What year was Novinger founded?

The Novinger post office opened in 1879, 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 (7), 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.