Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #105 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Panhorst Feed Store and the International Shoe Company Building. Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1880.
St. Clair dates its founding to 1859 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Clair is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #105 of 247 in Missouri. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls 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 St. Clair’s 4.2 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 St. Clair’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of St. Clair.
An early variant name was "Travelers Repose". St. Clair was platted in 1859 when the railroad was extended to that point. The present name is after a railroad official with the surname St. Clair.
The International Shoe Company Building and Panhorst Feed Store are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention St. Clair, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Then came a local paper with this description of the town of Arlington: Many will ask where and how large the town of Arlington is. It is the first station in St. Clair County on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, and although laid out but a couple of weeks since, is a town of considerable size. From a gentleman who visited the town one day this week we learn that there are some thirty good buildings completed and under construction, and double or treble that number under con-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
At the same time the county of St. Clair was called the township of St. Clair, taking in the entire county. On the second day. May 5th, the first justice of the peace was appointed in place of Mr. Avery, resigned, and Mr. Colby T. Stevenson received the appointment. Not having any further business the court adjourned to court in course, and both signed the minutes, as also the clerk.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born herePhoebe Hearst is born here
Born herePeter Clark MacFarlane is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings 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 St. Clair. 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 St. Clair.
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 217 people in 1880 to 4,791 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Clair’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Another post office, Travelers Repose, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1859, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. St. Clair’s post office opened in 1843, and the census of 1880 counted 217 people here.
St. Clair is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #105 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.
Two places: the Panhorst Feed Store (listed 1990) and the International Shoe Company Building (1994).
17% of St. Clair’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.6 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 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.
