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History · Ravenwood

Ravenwood’s post office opened in 1888, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1900.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Ravenwood began

When was Ravenwood founded?

1888

The Ravenwood post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 285 in 19002020 census: 439138 years
Founding year: the first Ravenwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ravenwood’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 Ravenwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ravenwood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Ravenwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ravenwood.

Read it all →

Ravenwood was laid out in 1887 when the railroad was extended to that point. The community has the name of the original owner of the land where the village now stands. A post office called Ravenwood has been in operation since 1888.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Ravenwood, decade by decade

Today5 recent
RavenwoodMO2025RavenwoodMONortheastNodawaySchoolDistrict2025NortheastNodawaySchoolDistrictNortheastNodawayHighSchool2025NortheastNodawayHighSchoolRavenwood12009Ravenwood1MOMap-doton-Ravenwood2004MOMap-doton-Ravenwood
On the map

Ravenwood on the map, 1940 to 1985

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

Ravenwood on the 1940 USGS mapRavenwood on the 1985 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 Ravenwood.

People over time

Ravenwood, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 448

Between 282 and 448 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Ravenwood

Nobody well known was born in Ravenwood itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Dale CarnegieAmerican writer and lecturer · b. 1888
Sarah CaldwellAmerican opera conductor, impresario, and stage… · b. 1924
Lynne OvermanAmerican actor · b. 1887
Edward H. MooreAmerican politician · b. 1871
J
Jerry WallaceAmerican country and pop singer · b. 1928
F
Frank E. LucasAmerican politician · b. 1876

Questions about Ravenwood’s history

What year was Ravenwood founded?

The Ravenwood post office opened in 1888, 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 →
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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 (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.