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Belle-plaine-water-towerPhoto: Art davis · CC BY-SA 4.0
BHistory
History · Belle Plaine Township

Belle Plaine Township’s post office opened in 1871, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #62 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
1on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Belle Plaine Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Belle Plaine Township began

When was Belle Plaine Township founded?

1871

The Belle Plaine Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 348 in 18802020 census: 3,082155 years

How historic is Belle Plaine Township?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Belle Plaine Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Belle Plaine Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belle Plaine Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #62 of 151 in Kansas. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belle Plaine Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1871, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194022.2% of homes (±5.3) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 6.5 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 59%

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 Belle Plaine Township’s 6.5 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 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 Belle Plaine Township’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.On the map since 18903 editions of the USGS map, 1890 to 1985. Watch Belle Plaine Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Belle Plaine Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Belle Plaine Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCamp scene, probably Belle Plain: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Belle Plaine Township on the map, 1890 to 1985

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

Belle Plaine Township on the 1890 USGS mapBelle Plaine Township on the 1955 USGS mapBelle Plaine Township on the 1985 USGS map1890Wellington 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 Belle Plaine Township.

The story

How Belle Plaine Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Belle Plaine Township.

Read it all →

Belle Plaine was founded in 1871. Belle Plaine is a French name meaning "beautiful plain". In 1883, Belle Plaine was a station and shipping point for the Southern Central & Fort Scott Railway. By 1910, it was at the junction of two railroads: the Missouri Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. The first post office in Belle Plaine was established in April 1871. In the fall of 1871 and spring of 1872, Miss Olive North taught a subscription school, and in 1873, school district (No. 2) was established.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Belle Plaine Township, 1860 to 1910

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860In the archiveCamp scene, probably Belle Plain
  3. 1890On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910BuiltBartlett Arboretum is built
By decade

Belle Plaine Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Camp scene, probably Belle Plainc. 1860Camp scene, probably Belle Plain
Today3 recent
Belle-plaine-water-tower2017Belle-plaine-water-towerBartlett Arboretum2013Bartlett ArboretumKSMap-doton-Belle Plaine2005KSMap-doton-Belle Plaine
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.

Camp scene, probably Belle Plain
Retake this viewCamp scene, probably Belle Plain, c. 1860

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Belle Plaine Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2010
Bartlett Arboretum
Bartlett Arboretum, built 1910
Districts
Bartlett ArboretumBuilt 1910

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Belle Plaine Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,708

Between 348 and 1,708 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Kendrigan Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Belle Plaine Township
Belle PlainePrairie Garden

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.

Harmon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGore TownshipIts storyB−Palestine TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLondon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMulvaneIts storyC

Questions about Belle Plaine Township’s history

What year was Belle Plaine Township founded?

The Belle Plaine Township post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Belle Plaine Township rank for history?

Belle Plaine Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #62 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.

What is on the National Register in Belle Plaine Township?

One place: the Bartlett Arboretum (listed 2010).

How old are the homes in Belle Plaine Township?

22% of Belle Plaine Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1972.

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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.