Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #152 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Oak Grove was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.
The Oak Grove post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name.
Oak Grove was named for a grove of oak trees near the original town site.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oak Grove is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #152 of 247 in Missouri. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Oak Grove’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 Oak Grove’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Oak Grove.
A post office called Oak Grove has been in operation since 1840, however the town was originally called Lickskillet. The city was not platted until 1878. It was named for a grove of oak trees near the original town site.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Oak Grove, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The first post-office in Sni-a-bar township was Oak Grove. Jonn McKinney was post-master. The office changed hands several times, and moved each time it changed hands, until it finally got into the village of Oak Grove, about three years before the war. The town of Oak Grove is situated on the Chicago & Alton Railroad, and derived its name from the post-office. I am not able to tell the exact date when Sni-a-bar township was organized. John H. Hudson was the first Justice of the Peace in the eastern part of Sni-a-bar township, and Joseph Crawford was the first constable.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Oak Grove, one of the oldest post villages in the township, is located on the Chicago and Alton Railroad near the Lafayette county line and contains about 280 inhabitants. It has eleven stores and business houses, a school house, church, post-office, hotel, livery stable, and a very elegant mill building, which will be ready for occupancy this year.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mr. Harding followed farming near Oak Grove until 1908 and then located in Oak Grove where he is enjoying well earned retirement. He began building up his farm in 1866 and lived on one place for 42 years.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
They settled on a farm just across the road from the Porter place, and later moved to a place near Oak Grove. After some years of residence near Oak Grove, Mr. Brown retired to Independence. Mrs. Lucy S. Brown
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oak Grove. 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 Oak Grove.
Grew from 208 people in 1880 to 8,157 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oak Grove’s Wikipedia page.
The Oak Grove post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Oak Grove is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #152 of 247 in Missouri. 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% of Oak Grove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
