More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #213 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Strafford was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1970.
Founding year: the first Strafford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Strafford’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Strafford is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #213 of 247 in Missouri. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Strafford’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 Strafford’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 D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Strafford’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Strafford was laid out in 1870 when the railroad was extended to that point, and named after an original owner of the site. A post office called Strafford has been in operation since 1870.
According to Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Strafford is the only town in the United States with two main streets and no back alleys. The road to the north was the main street until Route 66 was built between the backs of the businesses and the railroad. The owners simply built new entrances, giving them two front doors.
Passages that mention Strafford, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Greene County, Missouri ..1883 · page 907Read the page →
Read the text
The village of Strafford is located on the St. Louis & San Francisco railroad, in the northeastern part of the county, and is surrounded by a, good country, although perhaps not quite so fertile as in some other parts. There are a number of good farms, however, in the vicinity, and a very respectable business is done. It is a freight station on the railroad, and is a convenience to quite a large section of country. A considerable amount of wheat and other produce is shipped. The population is small, but it contains some energetic business
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Greene county, Missouri, ... including a history of its township, towns, and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri ... biographical sketches and portraits of prominent citizens ..1883 · page 907Read the page →
Read the text
The village of Strafford is located on the St. Louis & San Francisco railroad, in the northeastern part of the county, and is surrounded by a good country, although perhaps not quite so fertile as in some other parts. There are a number of good farms, however, in the vicinity, and a very respectable business is done. It is a freight station on the railroad, and is a convenience to quite a large section of country. A considerable amount of wheat and other produce is shipped. The population is small, but it contains some energetic business
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Greene county, Missouri, ... including a history of its township, towns, and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri ... biographical sketches and portraits of prominent citizens ..1883 · page 903Read the page →
Read the text
According to the best information obtainable Jackson township was settled as early as 1829, when Andrew Bass came in sometime in December of that year and located half a mile west of the present site of Strafford. In the same vicinity, though a little east, in section 5 — 29 — 20, old Jeremiah Pierson was an early resident and one of the first settlers of the county. He lived at the Danforth farm on the Springfield and Marshfield road, a farm which Josiah F. Danforth purchased of Jeremiah Pierson in 1834, and where he lived for many
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Past and present of Greene County Missouri1915Read the page →
Read the text
William T, Hankins grew to manhood on the old homestead near Strafford and he received his education in the district schools. He worked on the home farm until after his father's death, and his principal life work has been general fanning. In [896 he was appointed postmaster at Strafford, the duties of which office he continued to discharge acceptably and satisfactorily for a period of seventeen years, resigning in [913. He moved to his farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which joined Strafford, where he has a cozy home and is now living practically retired.
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.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Strafford. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Strafford sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Strafford.
People over time
Strafford, census by census
Grew from 491 people in 1970 to 2,561 in 2020, 5 times over.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Strafford’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Strafford’s history
What year was Strafford founded?
The Strafford post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Strafford rank for history?
Strafford is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #213 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.
How old are the homes in Strafford?
2% of Strafford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1994.
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, 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.
