Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1880 on and old-book passages.
Belleville dates its founding to 1869 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1870.
Belleville was named for Arabelle Tutton, the wife of a member of the town company.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belleville is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds 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 Belleville’s 19.2 sits above most of its state (80% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Belleville’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Belleville.
Belleville was founded in 1869, and incorporated as a city in 1878. It was named for Arabelle Tutton, the wife of a member of the town company.
The first post office in Belleville was established in February 1870.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Passages that mention Belleville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Belleville Belleville Scandia Belleville Belleville Belleville Belleville Belleville
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Republic County. 83 city of Belleville, one as near as practicable to the mouth of White Rock Creek, and one at the then-prosperous village of White Rock, with flag stations at convenient intermediate points, conditioned that the county subscribe to the capital stock of said railway in the sum of four thousand dollars per mile, but not to exceed in the aggregate one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, the bonds to run
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The following descriptive sketch is from the pen of Harry Root, correspondent of the Topeka State Journal, who attended the Jubilee as special reporter for that paper: Belleville, October 6. — Republic connty has been holding a three days' corn Jubilee in Belleville. The big day was Thursday. Ex-Sheriff Kindt who has been here about as long as anybody, says the crowd outnumbered two to one any other crowd ever seen in Belleville, and Kindt has
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
At a called meeting of the citizefhs of Republic county held at Belleville, April 26th, 1878, for the purpose of taking into consideration the proper steps to be taken to secure a railroad, the following named persons were chosen as a committee to visit Kansas City to confer with the officers of the Kansas Pacific railroad and the Kansas City Board of Trade in relation to railroad matters: namely, Hon. W. H. Pilkenton, I. O. Savage, Ed. E. Chapman, Dr.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereEdwin Bayer Branson is born here
In the archiveCivil War veterans of William McCullough Post No. 44
Born hereRobert Gordon is born here
In the archiveRed Cross float for Armistice Day paradeBuiltBelleville High School is builtBuiltRepublic County Courthouse is built
Born hereNick Hague is born here
In the archiveBelleville Cleaners3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Belleville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Belleville’s post office has been open since 1870.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1869, according to Wikidata. Belleville’s post office opened in 1870.
Belleville is more historic than 77% 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.
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the US Post Office-Belleville (listed 1989, the first).
32% of Belleville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1956.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
1982