Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #2 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
29 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Parker Carousel, a National Historic Landmark, and four historic districts with 111 buildings between them. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
Abilene dates its founding to 1857 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Abilene is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #2 of 151 in Kansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Abilene’s 214 sits above most of its state (98% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 138 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Abilene. 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 Abilene.
From Wikipedia’s history of Abilene.
In 1857, Dickinson County was founded and Abilene began as a stage coach stop, established by Timothy Hersey and named Mud Creek. It was not until 1860 that it was named Abilene, from a passage in the Bible (Luke 3:1), meaning "grassy plains".
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.
In the archivePrairie dog town, Abilene, Kansas, 447 miles west of St. Louis, MoBuiltC. H. Lebold House is built
In the archive1888 AbileneWeeklyReflector October18 Kansas LC
Born hereHarry Beaumont is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltEisenhower Home is built
Born hereEarl D. Eisenhower is born here
Born hereMilton Stover Eisenhower is born hereBuiltParker Carousel is built
In the archivePresident Roosevelt's splendid reception at Abilene, Kansas - returning to his train
In the archiveThe Red Cross Baby Welfare Week at Abilene, Kansas. Physical examination and measuring ro…BuiltAbilene Union Pacific Railroad Passenger Depot is built4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1867Prairie dog town, Abilene, Kansas, 447 miles west of …
1867Prairie dog town, Abilene, Kansas, 447 miles west of …
1869Shipping Point for Texan Cattle, Abilene, Kansas, 162…18881888 AbileneWeeklyReflector October18 Kansas LC1903President Roosevelt's splendid reception at Abilene, …
1903President Roosevelt at Abilene, Kansas - looking from…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.
1884Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Abilene’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 2,360 and 6,844 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Abilene’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Abilene’s post office has been open since 1860. Another post office, Kennedy, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1857, according to Wikidata. Abilene’s post office opened in 1860, and the census of 1880 counted 2,360 people here.
Abilene is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #2 of 151 in Kansas. 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.
29 listings: 24 buildings, among them the Eisenhower Home (listed 1971, the first), 4 historic districts with 111 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 138 historic buildings in all.
37% of Abilene’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (9), the National Register of Historic Places (29), 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.
1921