Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Philadelphia

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Philadelphia

Philadelphia dates to 1835

Most of Philadelphia was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1949 on.

1835founded
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Philadelphia’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Philadelphia began

When was Philadelphia founded?

1835

Philadelphia dates its founding to 1835 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1847.

2020 census: 206191 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1847.

What stands out about Philadelphia’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1835: 191 years of Philadelphia.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Philadelphia’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewLampshade design with six views: "Kansa…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Philadelphia, 1835 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835
    FoundingPhiladelphia is established
  3. 1847Post officeThe Philadelphia post office opens
  4. 1850In the archiveLampshade design with six views: "Kansas", "Jefferson City", "Erie R.R.", "New York", "Ni…
  5. 20th century
  6. 1912In the archiveInstitutional structures by Gilbert.] [Sketches
  7. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Philadelphia, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Philadelphia yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Philadelphia is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in western Marion County, Missouri, United States. It is located 12 miles (19 km) west of Palmyra on Missouri Route 168. The community is part of the Hannibal Micropolitan Statistical Area. Philadelphia was platted in 1835. The community was named after Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A post office called Philadelphia has been in operation since 1847. Philadelphia was first listed as a census-designated place for the 2020 census, at which time it had a population of 206.

Philadelphia was established in 1835.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Philadelphia, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
Lampshade design with six views: "Kansas", "Jefferson City", "Erie R.R.", "New York", "Niagara", and "Water Works, Phil…1850Lampshade design with six views: "Kansas", "Jefferson…
1910s2 items
Institutional structures by Gilbert.] [Sketches1912Institutional structures by Gilbert.] [SketchesGeorge Bostic Whitted, baseball player for St. Louis and Philadelphia, full-length, facing right, swinging bat; and ful…1914George Bostic Whitted, baseball player for St. Louis …
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Dr. Ayers HouseDate?Dr. Ayers House
On the map

Philadelphia on the map, 1949 to 1950

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

Philadelphia on the 1949 USGS mapPhiladelphia on the 1950 USGS map1949Philadelphia sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Philadelphia.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Lampshade design with six views: "Kansas", "Jefferson City", "Erie R.R.", "New York", "Niagara", and "Water Works, Phil…
Retake this viewLampshade design with six views: "Kansas", "Jefferson City", "Erie R.R.", "New York", "Niagara", and "Water Works, Phil…, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Philadelphia’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Philadelphia’s post office has been open since 1847.

Gone or out of use
Bevill Airportairport
1cemetery inside Philadelphia
Philadelphia

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Philadelphia’s history

What year was Philadelphia founded?

In 1835, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Philadelphia’s post office opened in 1847.

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 the Library of Congress (4), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.