History · Bethany

Bethany’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Bethany. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

1860established
0old images & papers
1historic places
2recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

European settlement of Harrison County began c. 1838, although the land was not surveyed and opened for entry until 1842. The county is named after Albert C. Harrison, a 19th-century Missouri political figure. Many of the early settlers to the area homesteaded along Sugar Creek and in the Bethany area. Three commissioners deliberated for several days to determine a site for the county seat, and voted to site it in the southern part of the county. The original name of the community was Dallas.

In June 1845, John S. Allen was appointed to survey the town into lots and offer the same for sale. The plat, covering 19 acres (7.7 hectare), was completed on June 27, 1845.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Famous people from Bethany

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By decade

Bethany, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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National Register of Historic Places

1 historic place in Bethany

1 place in Bethany is on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

#153
In Missouriby listings · most towns there have none
1place listed1 building
0National Historic LandmarksNone here yet
1historic building protectedcounting each building in a district
1985first listedHamilton House

Where they are

Tap a dot for a photo and link. Districts show at their center.
Buildings

When they were listed

The Register began in 1966.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places (05/22/2026) · styles from the National Archives catalog · photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history

From Wikimedia Commons (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

The coffee’s on

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01