Founding year: the first Anthony post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Anthony’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Anthony is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Anthony’s overall grade.
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 Anthony’s 22.3 sits above most of its state (83% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
What stands out about Anthony’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Anthony. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1889Anthony sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Anthony.
Every building
Anthony, building by building, 1888–1915
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.
The Anthony townsite was laid out in 1878. The city was named after the 7th governor of Kansas, George T. Anthony who was in office at the time. Following the reorganization of Harper County in 1878 following the original fraudulent organization in 1873, Anthony was designated the temporary county seat, as Bluff City, designated county seat of the fraudulent county organization, did not exist at the time. In 1879, a county seat election was held, and Anthony won over Harper City even though 2,960 ballots were cast with 800 legal voters in the county.
Passages that mention Anthony, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony, including public addresses, her own letters, and many from her contemporaries during fifty years1898 · page 666Read the page →
Read the text
OtiG referring to the ancient philospher who had founded the school of men, and Miss Anthony who had founded the modern school of women peripatetics, ready to grab their grips and start around the world at a moment's notice. Matilda Joslyn Gage responded to "Miss Anthony as a Fellow-worker;" Clara Bewick Colby to " Miss Anthony as a Journalist ; " Laura Ormiston Chant, of England, to " American Woman-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony, including public addresses, her own letters, and many from her contemporaries during fifty years1898 · page 937Read the page →
Read the text
Anthony was born a woman, an adroit statesman was lost to the world.' ' On November 11 Miss Anthony started on a great swing of western conventions, or conferences, stopping on her way to the railroad station to attend the golden wedding reception of her friends of nearly fifty years, Dr. and Mrs. Edward M.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Anthony, 1878 to 1945
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Anthony post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Anthony rank for history?
Anthony is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. 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.
What is on the National Register in Anthony?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Harper County Courthouse (listed 1978, the first), and 1 structure.
How old are the homes in Anthony?
27% of Anthony’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1956.
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 (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1911
1911
2010
