Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #228 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Pleasant Valley was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1960.
More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pleasant Valley is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #228 of 247 in Missouri. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Pleasant Valley’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.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pleasant Valley’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pleasant Valley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Pleasant Valley is a city in Clay County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,743 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,961 to 2,743 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Pleasant Valley, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Bethel Baptist Church, located on the Bariy road, five miles west of Liberty, was organized in Pleasant Valley school house, in 1872, by Elder James Rouse. Their present house of worship, a frame building, was erected in 1883, at a cost of $1,500.
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pleasant Valley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pleasant Valley.
Between 1,109 and 3,321 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pleasant Valley’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Pleasant Valley itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Pleasant Valley is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #228 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.
3% of Pleasant Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1981.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
