Most of St. Elizabeth was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1880.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Elizabeth. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1888Tuscumbia sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of St. Elizabeth.
St. Elizabeth was originally called "Charlestown", and under the latter name was platted in 1875, after Charley Holtschneider, the original owner of the town site. A post office called St. Elizabeth has been in operation since 1877. The present name is derived from a local Roman Catholic church of the same name, which in turn most likely was named after Elizabeth of Hungary.
The Boeckman Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
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 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.
