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B+History
History · Versailles

Versailles’ post office opened in 1835, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #58 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it

Most of Versailles was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1880.

1835first post office
3on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Versailles’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Versailles began

When was Versailles founded?

1835

The Versailles post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 578 in 18802020 census: 2,539191 years

How historic is Versailles?

B+

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Versailles post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Versailles’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Versailles is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #58 of 247 in Missouri. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Versailles’ overall grade.
Founding era1835, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19409.3% of homes (±4.5) · typical MO town 8.4% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register3 listings, 4 historic buildings, 15.3 per 10,000 residents · typical MO town 2.4 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%
NewerOlder
Missouri towns of 2,500+ (247)Ahead of 77%

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 Versailles’ 15.3 sits above most of its state (78% 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 B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 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 Versailles’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19044 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1982. Watch Versailles change.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1909, drew every building in Versailles.Deep rootsA post office since 1835: 191 years of Versailles.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Versailles’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Versailles’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewBank Barn: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Versailles on the map, 1904 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Versailles. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Versailles on the 1904 USGS mapVersailles on the 1949 USGS mapVersailles on the 1961 USGS mapVersailles on the 1982 USGS map1904Gravois Mills 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 Versailles.

Every building

Versailles, building by building, 1894–1909

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Versailles fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Versailles came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Versailles.

Read it all →

A post office called Versailles, after the royal palace in France, has been in operation since 1835. Versailles was not platted until 1854.

The Martin Hotel, built in 1853, had such guests as the showman P. T. Barnum and outlaw robber Jesse James. Since the late 20th century, it has been operated as a museum. Both it and the Morgan County Courthouse are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The courthouse was designed in a French style.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Versailles, 1835 to 1954

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835Post officeThe Versailles post office opens
  3. 1893Born hereRuth Royce is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1946Born hereJune Rae Wood is born here
  7. 1952Born hereBill Laurie is born here
  8. 1954Born hereRodney Schad is born here
By decade

Versailles, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Bank BarnDate?Bank Barn
Today9 recent
Royal Theatre2026Royal TheatreMorgan County Courthouse 20262026Morgan County Courthouse 2026Martin Hotel2026Martin HotelBank of2026Bank ofAn Amish buggy parked along a country road near Versailles, Missouri2021An Amish buggy parked along a country road near Versa…Morgan County Courthouse2014Morgan County CourthouseCity Hall2013City Hallpanoramio (4497)2011panoramio (4497)MOMap-doton-Versailles2004MOMap-doton-Versailles
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bank Barn
Retake this viewBank Barn

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Versailles’ page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Versailles

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Martin Hotel
Morgan County CourthouseMartin HotelSecond Baptist Church and Booker T. Washington School Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Second Empire1
Morgan County CourthouseSecond Empire
All 3 listings
Martin HotelBuilding · listed 1978Second Baptist Church and Booker T. Washington School Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2020

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Versailles, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,565

Between 578 and 2,565 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Versailles’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Versailles

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
R
Ruth RoyceActress · b. 1893
B
Bill LaurieAmerican businessman, basketball player and coa… · b. 1952
J
June Rae WoodAmerican children's writer · b. 1946
R
Rodney SchadAmerican politician · b. 1954

Questions about Versailles’ history

What year was Versailles founded?

The Versailles post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Versailles rank for history?

Versailles is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #58 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 Versailles?

Three places: the Morgan County Courthouse (listed 1980), the Martin Hotel (1978) and the Second Baptist Church and Booker T. Washington School Historic District (2020).

How old are the homes in Versailles?

9% of Versailles’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1971.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (8), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.