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History · Blue Mound

Blue Mound’s post office opened in 1886, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1889 on.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
47%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Blue Mound’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Blue Mound began, and where its name came from

When was Blue Mound founded?

1886

The Blue Mound post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Blue Mounds (1863) and Babcock (1886), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 219140 years

How did Blue Mound get its name?

Blue Mound was named by its first postmaster, John Q. Adams, because its elevation is said to look blue from a distance.

Founding year: the first Blue Mound post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Blue Mound’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.Old housesHalf of Blue Mound’s homes were built before 1942.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Blue Mound.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Blue Mound’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blue Mound’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 viewKansas potatoes on wheels: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Blue Mound came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Blue Mound.

Read it all →

Blue Mound was laid out in 1882. It was named by its first postmaster, John Q. Adams, because its elevation is said to look blue from a distance.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Blue Mound’s post office has been open since 1886. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Blue Mounds
1863–1886
Babcock
1886–1886
Blue Mound
1886–today
18601940today
1cemetery inside Blue Mound
Sunny Slope

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

Timeline

Blue Mound, 1863 to 1889

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1863Post officeThe Blue Mounds post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Blue Mounds post office closes
  4. 1886Post officeThe Babcock post office opens
  5. 1886Post officeThe Babcock post office closes
  6. 1886Post officeThe Blue Mound post office opens
  7. 1889In the archiveKansas potatoes on wheels
By decade

Blue Mound, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
Kansas potatoes on wheels1889Kansas potatoes on wheels
1890s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
KSMap-doton-Blue Mound2004KSMap-doton-Blue Mound
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.

Kansas potatoes on wheels
Retake this viewKansas potatoes on wheels, 1889

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Blue Mound’s history

What year was Blue Mound founded?

The Blue Mound post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.