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History · Bunker Hill

Bunker Hill’s post office opened in 1871, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Bunker Hill began

When was Bunker Hill founded?

1871

The Bunker Hill post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 135 in 18802020 census: 103155 years
Founding year: the first Bunker Hill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bunker Hill’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bunker Hill are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 298 in 1930; 103 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bunker Hill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bunker Hill’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Bunker Hill, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 298

Peaked at 298 in 1930; 103 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bunker Hill’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Bunker Hill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bunker Hill.

Read it all →

J. B. Corbett and Valentine Harbaugh, leaders of a colony from Ohio, founded Bunker Hill at a site on the Kansas Pacific Railway in the summer of 1871. The settlement received its name from a Butterfield Overland Despatch station, built in 1865, that had preceded it on the site. County commissioners declared Bunker Hill the county seat in 1872, but, two years later, a popular vote moved the seat to nearby Russell. Many Bunker Hill residents moved with it, stunting the growth and development of the town. By 1883, a small business community emerged, including a hotel, flour mill, and several shops.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bunker Hill, 1871 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Bunker Hill post office opens
  3. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 298
By decade

Bunker Hill, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Detailed map of2010Detailed map ofMap
On the map

Bunker Hill on the map, 1896 to 1985

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

Bunker Hill on the 1896 USGS mapBunker Hill on the 1985 USGS map1896Russell 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 Bunker Hill.

Questions about Bunker Hill’s history

What year was Bunker Hill founded?

The Bunker Hill post office opened in 1871, 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 →
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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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.