Sunset Hills dates to 1957, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #203 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Alswel, the Rott School and the #1 Fairway. Most of Sunset Hills was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1933 on, and the census since 1960.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Sunset Hills’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sunset Hills is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #203 of 247 in Missouri. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sunset Hills’ 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 Sunset Hills’ 4.4 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1957.
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 →
What stands out about Sunset Hills’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Sunset Hills was incorporated in June 1957. In April 1973, it established its own Police Department, and in 1981, it purchased a landscaping service in order to establish the city's public works department.
Around noon on December 31, 2010, an EF3 tornado struck Sunset Hills, destroying several businesses and homes, killing one person, and injuring others in a three- to four-block area around Lindbergh Boulevard.
In 1957, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Sunset Hills’ post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1960 counted 3,525 people here.
How does Sunset Hills rank for history?
Sunset Hills is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #203 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 Sunset Hills?
Three places: the Alswel (listed 1989), the Rott School (2005) and the #1 Fairway (2024).
How old are the homes in Sunset Hills?
3% of Sunset Hills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built 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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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2024
2019
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2019
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