Palmyra dates to 1818, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #15 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1820.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Palmyra’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Palmyra is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #15 of 247 in Missouri. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Palmyra’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 Palmyra’s 35.9 sits above most of its state (85% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 13 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.9 points). Two sources give 1818.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Palmyra’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.
Palmyra was platted in 1819 and named after the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria. The settlement was designated county seat in 1827. A post office called Palmyra has been in operation since 1830.
In 1862, the city was the scene of the Palmyra Massacre, in which ten Confederate prisoners were killed in retaliation for the disappearance of a local Union man.
The Culbertson-Head Farmstead, Dryden-Louthan House, Gardner House, Marion County Jail and Jailor's House, Peter J. Sowers House, Speigle House, Walker-Woodward-Schaffer House, and Ephraim J. Wilson Farm Complex are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The reader will remember that the Smith family resided, from 1825 to 1830, during the incubation period of the fraud, at the village of Palmyra, New York , and at Manchester , near by . The Booh of Mormon was printed in 1829-30, at Palmyra, and published to the world in the last named year. About the time of its publication a church was foimed, and^ soon afterwards it was decided to emigrate to, and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
any one that a new dispensation was coming. That young Joseph had had a dream that was more wonderful than anything he had ever read in the book of Daniel, and that if the village of Palmyra did not repent it would meet the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.
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.
By decade
Palmyra, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
In 1818, according to Wikidata. Palmyra’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1850 counted 1,265 people here.
How does Palmyra rank for history?
Palmyra is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #15 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 Palmyra?
7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Gardner House (listed 1971, the first), and 1 historic district, the Culbertson-Head Farmstead, with 6 contributing buildings. 13 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Palmyra?
21% of Palmyra’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 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 (14), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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, 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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