Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1871.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clearwater’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clearwater is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #94 of 151 in Kansas. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clearwater’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 Clearwater’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 C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points). Two sources give 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Clearwater’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Clearwater was settled in 1870, and platted as a city in 1872. The community was named after the Ninnescah River that runs west and south of it. The name "Ninnescah" comes from the Osage Indian language, where "Ninne" means water and "scah" can mean clear, salt, spring, good, or white water. The first post office in Clearwater was established in 1871, and the name of the post office was officially spelled out Clear Water until 1894. The Chisholm Trail ran along the eastern side of the community from 1867 to 1871.
In 1870, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Clearwater’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1890 counted 408 people here.
How does Clearwater rank for history?
Clearwater is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #94 of 151 in Kansas. 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 Clearwater?
14% of Clearwater’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1977.
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), 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.
2010
2005