Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Beloit’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Beloit is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #48 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 Beloit’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 Beloit’s 16.5 sits above most of its state (76% 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 (±6.3 points). Two sources give 1868.
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 →
What stands out about Beloit’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 Beloit. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1894Beloit 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 Beloit.
Every building
Beloit, building by building, 1885–1917
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.
On permanent organization of the county in 1870, Beloit was selected as the county seat of Mitchell County, Kansas, and is located northeast of the center of the county on the Solomon River. In 1873, an iron bridge was built across the river, costing $10,000, equivalent to $254,333 in 2023. The town site of Beloit was first settled by A.A. Bell in 1868 with the idea of improving the water power and for some time was known as Willow Springs. The town was renamed to Beloit by Tim Hersey, one of the original founders and the first mayor, and is named after his hometown, Beloit, Wisconsin. A.A. Bell was appointed postmaster in 1870, and the first school was built in 1871. By 1898, the population was around 2500. Beloit sits at the junction of the Union Pacific and the Missouri Pacific Railroads. Local legend has it that the local Indians advised Bell to locate the town at a certain bend of…
In 1868, according to Wikidata. Beloit’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1880 counted 1,835 people here.
How does Beloit rank for history?
Beloit is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #48 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 Beloit?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the F. H. Hart House (listed 1973, the first).
How old are the homes in Beloit?
23% of Beloit’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (2), 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 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.
c. 1868
2004
