Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #142 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Wright City was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2007. Its Register listing is the Southwestern Bell Repeater Station-Wright City. Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1880.
Wright City dates its founding to 1857 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wright City is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #142 of 247 in Missouri. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Wright City’s 1.9 sits near the middle of its state (51% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Wright City’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Wright City.
Wright City was laid out in 1857, and was named after Dr. Henry C. Wright, a first settler. A post office called Wright City has been in operation since 1858.
The Southwestern Bell Repeater Station-Wright City was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereReinhold Niebuhr is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wright City. 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 Wright City.
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 sheet.
1912Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 393 people in 1880 to 4,881 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wright City’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Wright City’s post office has been open since 1858.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1857, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Wright City’s post office opened in 1858, and the census of 1880 counted 393 people here.
Wright City is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #142 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.
One place: the Southwestern Bell Repeater Station-Wright City (listed 2007).
8% of Wright City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 2007.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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