Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #69 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Andrew County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1850.
The Savannah post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Savannah is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #69 of 247 in Missouri. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Savannah’s 2.0 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Savannah’s history is told.
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 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Savannah.
Savannah was founded in 1841 and incorporated in 1842. The city was named after Savannah Woods, the child of a first settler. A post office called Savannah has been in operation since 1841.
The Andrew County Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Savannah. 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 Savannah.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 654 people in 1850 to 5,069 in 2020, 7 times over.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Savannah’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Savannah post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Savannah is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #69 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.
One place: the Andrew County Courthouse (listed 1980).
13% of Savannah’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 Wikimedia Commons (3), 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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