The 25 Oldest Towns in Missouri

Missouri has more history than most states in America due in part to the fact that there are dozens of towns that have been in existence for centuries. Among those, there are 25 places that are older than any other locations in the state with communities that have stood the test of time.

There are a lot of ways to determine the age of a town. You can look at when it was founded or when it was officially incorporated. For the sake of simplicity, here are the 25 oldest towns in Missouri based on when they were founded according to the most accurate history we have.

I realize that being a native Missourian for most of my life, I'm probably not objective when it comes to the fact that I'm quite partial to the most historic places in our state. I especially love the towns that have worked hard to protect the architecture of original buildings when that's possible since that really contributes to the character of a town. Even the hustling, bustling metro of St. Louis still has some buildings that date back more than 100 years. Ste. Genevieve is probably one of best examples of this in America. When you're walking through the oldest neighborhoods there, you really do feel like you've stepped out of a time machine and that's a very good thing.