The Stover post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Newstover (1904), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
2020 census: 1,006151 years
How historic is Stover?
C+
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Stover post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Stover’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stover is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stover’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 Stover’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.7 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 Stover’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A post office called Stover has been in operation since 1875. The community has the name of John Hubler Stover, a congressman from Missouri. Stover was laid out at its current site in 1905 when the railroad was extended to that point. Prior to 1905, the city was slightly to the southeast of its current location. When the St. Louis-Kansas City Colorado Railroad, later known as the Rock Island Line, decided to bypass the original village of Stover, residents began setting up businesses along the route. It was in 1905 that the last business made its way to the new location.
Stover’s post office has been open since 1875. Another post office, Newstover, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Stover
1875–today
Newstover
1904–1905
18701950today
1cemetery inside Stover
Stover
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Stover’s history
What year was Stover founded?
The Stover post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Stover rank for history?
Stover is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Stover?
19% of Stover’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.7 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 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.
