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History · Parnell

Parnell’s post office opened in 1887, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 1890.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Parnell began

When was Parnell founded?

1887

The Parnell post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 267 in 18902020 census: 135139 years
Founding year: the first Parnell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Parnell’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Parnell are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 490 in 1930; 135 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Parnell’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Parnell’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Parnell, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 490

Peaked at 490 in 1930; 135 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Parnell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Parnell.

Read it all →

Parnell was platted on July 5, 1887 as a station stop on the Chicago Great Western Railway and it was formally incorporated in 1888. The Chicago Great Western route passing through the community was called the Diagonal Route. It ran at northeast direction from Kansas City to Waterloo, Iowa including passing through the community of Diagonal, Iowa. Among the first businesses was the Diagonal Hotel.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Parnell, 1882 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Born hereBen A. Jones is born here
  3. 1887Post officeThe Parnell post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906Born hereHorace A. Jones is born here
  6. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 490
  7. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Parnell, decade by decade

Today3 recent
StJosephCatholicChurchParnellMO2025StJosephCatholicChurchParnellMOParnellMO2025ParnellMOMOMap-doton-Parnell2004MOMap-doton-Parnell
On the map

Parnell on the map, 1940 to 1984

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

Parnell on the 1940 USGS mapParnell on the 1984 USGS map1940Parnell 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 Parnell.

Every building

Parnell, building by building, 1914

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.

Parnell fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 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.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Parnell

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
B
Ben A. JonesAmerican horse trainer · b. 1882
H
Horace A. JonesAmerican horse trainer · b. 1906

Questions about Parnell’s history

What year was Parnell founded?

The Parnell post office opened in 1887, 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 (3), 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 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.