History · Canalou

Canalou’s history is
mostly unwritten

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

0old images & papers
5recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

Canalou had its start in 1902 as a lumber company town. A post office called Canalou has been in operation since 1903. It is unknown why the name "Canalou" was applied to this community.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Start Canalou’s collection

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

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Famous people from Canalou

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By decade

Canalou, 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

Nothing in Canalou is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Canalou has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Lincoln School in Sikeston, 9.5 miles away.

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Lincoln School’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Canalou?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Canalou’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

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

The porch light’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