Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Vandiver was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1962. Below: maps from 1932 on and the census since 1960.
Vandiver first appears in the census in 1960.
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 Vandiver’s history is told.
Peaked at 102 in 1970; 63 people lived here in 2020.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Vandiver’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Vandiver yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Vandiver is a village in Audrain County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 63.
Its first post office opened in 1960. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 71 to 63 (-11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Vandiver. 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 Vandiver.
Nobody well known was born in Vandiver itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Vandiver post office opened in 1960, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
2004
