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C−History
History · Basehor

Basehor’s post office opened in 1888

More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #133 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it

Most of Basehor was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1940 on, and the census since 1970.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Basehor’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Basehor began

When was Basehor founded?

1888

The Basehor post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1889.

First census: 724 in 19702020 census: 6,896138 years

How historic is Basehor?

C−

More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Basehor post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1889.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Basehor’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Basehor is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #133 of 151 in Kansas. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Basehor’s overall grade.
Founding era1888, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.6% of homes (±1.9) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical KS town 5.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 17%
NewerOlder
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 12%

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 Basehor’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1889 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Basehor’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Basehor’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewDocument-removebg-preview: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Basehor came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Basehor.

Read it all →

In exchange for extensive Delaware holdings in the state of Indiana, on September 24, 1829, the United States government ceded a large tract of land to the Delaware Indians. Basehor is built on a small part of this tract. The Delawares held this land, or at least parts of it, until the 1860s. On July 4, 1866, the Secretary of the Interior of the United States was offered for sale what was left of the Delaware lands, then referred to as the Delaware Diminished Reserve, for not less than $2.50 per acre. The Leavenworth, Pawnee, and Western Railroad Company subsequently bought all of the remaining land on January 7, 1886.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Basehor in 1921

Passages that mention Basehor, cut from the printed page as they were published.

One, out of Basehor. Roy Grisham enlisted at Leavenworth, Kansas, May 14, 1918, for service in the late World War, and was first sent to Jefferson Barracks, and then to Del Rio, Texas with the 313th Field Cavalry for cavalry training. He was there for three months, and was then sent to Camp Stithto…
History of Leavenworth County Kansas1921 · page 474Read the page →
Read the text

One, out of Basehor. Roy Grisham enlisted at Leavenworth, Kansas, May 14, 1918, for service in the late World War, and was first sent to Jefferson Barracks, and then to Del Rio, Texas with the 313th Field Cavalry for cavalry training. He was there for three months, and was then sent to Camp Stithton, Kentucky and transferred to heavy artillery, and was mustered out there February 9, 1919. He was ready to start overseas when the armistice was signed. He has been mail carrier for Route One since August 2, 1920.

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

Basehor, 1888 to 1994

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Basehor post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1994Born hereBen Johnson is born here
By decade

Basehor, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Document-removebg-previewDate?Document-removebg-preview
Today10 recent
Basehor Kansas (As seen from 155th & Maple)2025Basehor Kansas (As seen from 155th & Maple)Flag of the City of2024Flag of the City ofBasehor, Kansas from BLHS2024Basehor, Kansas from BLHSBasehor, Kansas from 155th Street2024Basehor, Kansas from 155th StreetBasehor Neighborhood seen from City Hall2024Basehor Neighborhood seen from City HallBasehor City Hall2024Basehor City HallSHEEHAN-NEIGHBORHOOD.mp32021SHEEHAN-NEIGHBORHOOD.mp3BASEHOR FPIU282021BASEHOR FPIU282010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookKSMap-doton-Basehor2004KSMap-doton-Basehor
On the map

Basehor on the map, 1940 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Basehor. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Basehor on the 1940 USGS mapBasehor on the 1950 USGS mapBasehor on the 1970 USGS mapBasehor on the 1984 USGS map1940Bonner Springs sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Basehor.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Document-removebg-preview
Retake this viewDocument-removebg-preview

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Basehor’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Basehor, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0007,5001980200020206,896

Grew from 724 people in 1970 to 6,896 in 2020, 9 times over.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Basehor’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners

Basehor’s post office has been open since 1888.

Hamlets and corners on the map
South BasehorStone

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Kansas City44 historic placesA−

Questions about Basehor’s history

What year was Basehor founded?

The Basehor post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1889.

How does Basehor rank for history?

Basehor is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #133 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.

How old are the homes in Basehor?

3% of Basehor’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 2004.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (11), 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 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.