Founding year: the first Belle Plaine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Belle Plaine’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belle Plaine is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belle Plaine’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 Belle Plaine’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 B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 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’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 Belle Plaine. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1890Wellington 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.
Every building
Belle Plaine, building by building, 1893–1912
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.
1893Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
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’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners
Belle Plaine’s post office has been open since 1871.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Valley Mobile Home Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Belle Plaine’s history
What year was Belle Plaine founded?
The Belle Plaine post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Belle Plaine rank for history?
Belle Plaine is more historic than 48% 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.
How old are the homes in Belle Plaine?
32% of Belle Plaine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1955.
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), 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.
2017
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2005