Potosi’s post office opened in 1824, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns · #81 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Potosi was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1960. Its Register listing is the Washington County Courthouse. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: the first Potosi post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1826.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Potosi’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Potosi is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #81 of 247 in Missouri. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Potosi’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 Potosi’s 3.9 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1826 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Potosi’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1870 and 1890, then grew 4-fold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Potosi’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Potosi, building by building, 1886–1929
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.
1886Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
A lead mining settlement at this spot, "Mine à Breton" or Mine au Breton, was founded between 1760 and 1780 by Francis Azor, of Brittany, France. Moses Austin came here in 1798 with his family, including his son Stephen F. Austin. Moses obtained a grant of 7,153 arpents of land from the Spanish Empire and started large-scale mining operations, building his town to support it. Moses named the town after Potosí in Bolivia, which was famous for its vast silver mines. Austin's tomb and the foundation of his home Durham Hall can still be seen. Another mining entrepreneur in Potosi at the time of Moses Austin was James Bryan. Firmin Rene Desloge, who emigrated from Nantes, France in 1822 as the progenitor of the Desloge Family in America, settled in Potosi and established a mercantile, distillery, fur trading and lead smelting business. The Desloge lead mining business, Desloge Lead Company (…
CalvaryChadbourneCityPerry - McGreadyPotosi ColoredPotosi New MasonicPotosi Old MasonicPotosi PresbyterianSaint James CatholicTrinity
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Potosi’s history
What year was Potosi founded?
The Potosi post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1826.
How does Potosi rank for history?
Potosi is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #81 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 Potosi?
One place: the Washington County Courthouse (listed 2011).
How old are the homes in Potosi?
10% of Potosi’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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