Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Bushton

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Bushton

Bushton’s post office opened in 1887, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1910.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brandon Dilbeck · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Bushton began

When was Bushton founded?

1887

The Bushton post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sorghum (1883), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 222 in 19102020 census: 203139 years
Founding year: the first Bushton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bushton’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 Bushton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18943 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1985. Watch Bushton change.Boom and bustPeaked at 532 in 1950; 203 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Bushton’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bushton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bushton’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
On the map

Bushton on the map, 1894 to 1985

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

Bushton on the 1894 USGS mapBushton on the 1964 USGS mapBushton on the 1985 USGS map1894Ellsworth 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 Bushton.

People over time

Bushton, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 532

Peaked at 532 in 1950; 203 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Bushton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bushton.

Read it all →

Bushton was originally called Sorghum, and under the latter name established in the early 1880s. It was renamed Bushton in 1887, after a number of wild bushes growing at the town site. Bushton was incorporated in 1907.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bushton, 1883 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Sorghum post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Sorghum post office closes
  4. 1887Post officeThe Bushton post office opens
  5. 1888Born hereClarence R. Huebner is born here
  6. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 20th century
  8. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 532
By decade

Bushton, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Bushton, Kansas2014Bushton, KansasBushton and Holyrood, Kansas2014Bushton and Holyrood, KansasBushton and Holyrood, Kansas2014Bushton and Holyrood, KansasBushton Grain Elevators2004Bushton Grain Elevators
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Bushton’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Sorghum, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sorghum
1883–1887
Bushton
1887–today
18801950today

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

Questions about Bushton’s history

What year was Bushton founded?

The Bushton post office opened in 1887, 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 (4), 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) 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.