Its Register listings are the Caldwell Carnegie Library and the US Post Office-Caldwell. Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1893 on and old-book passages.
Founding year: the first Caldwell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Caldwell’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Caldwell is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Caldwell’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 Caldwell’s 20.5 sits above most of its state (82% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±9.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Caldwell’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Near Caldwell is a precontact Plains Village period settlement called the Buresh site, which has yielded clues about Native American lifeways prior to the arrival of people of European and African descent.
Caldwell was founded in 1871. It is named for Senator Alexander Caldwell. Caldwell was incorporated as a city in 1879. The first post office in Caldwell was established in May 1871. The Chisholm Trail ran along the east side of the community from 1867 to 1871.
On March 1st, 1871, the town of Caldwell was located, and named in honor of United States Senator Caldwell, of Leavenworth, Kansas, by a company consisting of C. H. Stone, J. H. Dagner and G. A. Smith.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The citizens at Caldwell knew nothing about the catching of the horses, until the men had returned from their trip after the thieves. It was not generally reported among the residents of the town. At a late hour in the night the town of Caldwell was surrounded by a crowd of men numbering about two hundred. The sheriff was in charge of the men, and it was soon reported what their object was. They were after the parties
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.
Timeline
Caldwell, 1871 to 1944
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Caldwell post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Caldwell rank for history?
Caldwell is more historic than 78% 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.
What is on the National Register in Caldwell?
Two places: the Caldwell Carnegie Library (listed 1983) and the US Post Office-Caldwell (1989).
How old are the homes in Caldwell?
38% of Caldwell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.4 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1953.
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 (2), 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.
1893
1893