Founding year: the first Owensville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Owensville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Owensville is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #147 of 247 in Missouri. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Owensville’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 Owensville’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.
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 (±6.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Owensville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Owensville was named after early merchant Frank Owens. According to local legend Owens and blacksmith Edward Luster decided on the name while playing horseshoes in 1847. According to one account Luster won the contest but thought Owensville sounded better than Lusterville. Another account said Owens won the contest. The first post office was in 1856 and the town was formally platted in 1886 with the arrival of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Owensville.
Every building
Owensville, building by building, 1914–1929
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.
The Owensville post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Owensville rank for history?
Owensville is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #147 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.
How old are the homes in Owensville?
19% of Owensville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (1), 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.
Date?
2026
2004
