Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1879.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Odessa’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Odessa is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #134 of 247 in Missouri. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Odessa’s overall grade.
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 Odessa’s 1.8 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 points). Two sources give 1878.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
What stands out about Odessa’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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 year, then a sheet.
Odessa was platted in 1878, and named after Odessa in the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine). A post office called Odessa has been in operation since 1879.
In 1972, former President Harry Truman purchased his last car, a 1972 Chrysler Newport, from a dealership in Odessa.
The Odessa Ice Cream Company Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
Passages that mention Odessa, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Lafayette county, Mo. , carefully written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, cities, towns, and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri1881 · page 676Read the page →
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EDWARD D. RAWLINGS, mayor of Odessa; postoffice, Odessa; son of Jonathan and Nancy Rowlings; born April 6, 1823, in Mason county, Ky. In March of 1843, he came to this state and settled in Johnson county, where he was engaged in farming, with the exception of the time spent in the army, until April, 1879, when he moved to Odessa. In the fall of the same year he was elected Mayor of Odessa, and in April of 1881, was re-elected, which fact is, of itself, a sufficient testimony of his ability to administer the affairs of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Young's history of Lafayette County, Missouri1910 · page 39Read the page →
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The most elevated points within Lafayette county are said to be found at, or near, the town of Odessa, in Sniabar township, and also about the same altitude is found at Mayview and Lexington.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Lafayette county, Mo. , carefully written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, cities, towns, and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri1881 · page 680Read the page →
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He owns a very fertile farm of 220 acres at the head of the Greenton valley, one mile from the town of Odessa; His father, Joseph White, and Mr. Fristoe, one a new and the other an old school Baptist, were among the first preachers in that region.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Young's history of Lafayette County, Missouri1910 · page 44Read the page →
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Odessa was platted by John Kirkpatrick, Sarah Kirkpatrick and Alex. R. Patterson, on section 36, township 49, range 28, and section 1, township 48, range 28, on September 17, 1878.
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.
Timeline
Odessa, 1878 to 1886
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Odessa, census by census
Grew from 100 people in 1880 to 5,593 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Odessa’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Odessa’s post office has been open since 1879.
Gone or out of use
Odessa Upper Elementary Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Odessa’s history
What year was Odessa founded?
In 1878, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Odessa’s post office opened in 1879, and the census of 1880 counted 100 people here.
How does Odessa rank for history?
Odessa is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #134 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.
What is on the National Register in Odessa?
One place: the Odessa Ice Cream Company Building (listed 1996).
How old are the homes in Odessa?
10% of Odessa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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