Spanish Lake’s post office opened in 1880, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #160 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Spanish Lake was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Its Register listing is the Wilson Larimore House. Below: maps from 1927 on and the census since 1970.
Founding year: the first Spanish Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Spanish Lake’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spanish Lake is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #160 of 247 in Missouri. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spanish Lake’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 Spanish Lake’s 0.6 sits near the middle of its state (47% 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 C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Spanish Lake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Spanish Lake, originally called Spanish Pond until the late nineteenth century, was named after the Spanish troops who stayed there while building a fortified post for Spain in 1768. Much of the area was once the property of James De St. Vrain, a brother of the last Spanish lieutenant governor of Upper Louisiana. It was in this district, near Spanish Pond, that an old log cabin, said to have been used as a government building by Lieutenant Governor De Lassus De St. Vrain, the last Spanish executive to rule this section, was erected.
The Spanish Lake post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Spanish Lake rank for history?
Spanish Lake is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #160 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 Spanish Lake?
One place: the Wilson Larimore House (listed 1989).
How old are the homes in Spanish Lake?
6% of Spanish Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
