On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Caney is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Caney’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 Caney’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±13.5 points). Two sources give 1869.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Caney’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 3,597 in 1910; 1,788 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Caney’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Caney, building by building, 1894–1917
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.
Caney was founded in 1869. It was named from the Caney River. The first post office in Caney was established in May 1870.
In 1887, the Missouri Pacific railroad was built through Caney, and in that same year, the town was incorporated. By 1905 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway had also built through Caney. The two railroads served the city for much of the 19th century. Today only the former ATSF tracks remain, currently operated by the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad.
Passages that mention Caney, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Montgomery county, Kansas1903 · page 298Read the page →
Read the text
The marriage of Mr. Blackledge, in 1890. had thrown him into contact with a master of finance in the person of his fatherin-law, E. P. Allen, president of the Bank of Independence, and with whom, in 1893, he became associated in a banking venture in the then village of Caney. Joint purchasers of stock in the Caney Valley Bank, they operated it as a stale bank until 1!)(I0, when it was incorporated under the name now known, with a cai>ital of .f25.0(l(Ml(l. X'lulcr the splendid management of Mr. Blackledge. This bank has beionie one of the solid financial institu-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Montgomery county, Kansas1903 · page 709Read the page →
Read the text
lu 1900, ;\lr. Skinner secured a franchise from the city of Caney to furnish it gas and was insfrumeiilal. chiefiy. in the organization of the Caney Gas Company, of which he is the general manager. Successful prospecting was done, an abundance of gas discovered and the Caney Brick Company was formed with Mr. Skinner as its Tresideiit. Leases covering twenty tlionsand acres of land in Ciiney townshi]! arc held by the gas comjiany and its jn-oven value ])ioniiscs nuicli mateiial good to Caney and to the jirime movers in this mineral di'vplopment.
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
Caney, 1869 to 1961
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.
In 1869, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Caney’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1890 counted 542 people here.
How does Caney rank for history?
Caney is more historic than 53% 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.
How old are the homes in Caney?
48% of Caney’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.5 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1945.
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 (8), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1894
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