Founding year: the first Coffeyville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Coffeyville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coffeyville is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #22 of 151 in Kansas. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Coffeyville’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 Coffeyville’s 13.9 sits above most of its state (70% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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 (±5.5 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 Coffeyville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coffeyville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1886Independence 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 Coffeyville.
Every building
Coffeyville, building by building, 1885–1923
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
People over time
Coffeyville, census by census
Peaked at 17,382 in 1960; 8,826 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Coffeyville’s Wikipedia page.
This settlement was founded in 1869 as an Indian trading post by Col. James A. Coffey, serving the population across the border in what was then the Indian Territory. The town was stimulated in 1871 by being made a stop on the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad, which connected it to other markets and developments. With the arrival of the railroad, a young surveyor, Napoleon B. Blanton, was dispatched to lay out the town. The naming of the town was left to the toss of a coin between Col. Coffey and U.S. Army Captain Blanton. Coffey won the toss and the town was officially named Coffeyville.
The city was incorporated in 1872, but the charter was voided as illegal, and the city was re-incorporated in March 1873.
Passages that mention Coffeyville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Montgomery county, Kansas1903 · page 129Read the page →
Read the text
On this strip, which was not ojiened for entry until about two years after the ()saj;e Diminished Reserve lands cam(> into nuuket., was located the orifijinal village of Coffeyville and the thriving town of Parker and this is the lircnmstance i)reviously referred to which gave Coffeyville the advantage and ultimately enabled her to win out in the fierce struggle for sujiremacy waged l)etween the two towns in the early seventies.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Montgomery county, Kansas1903 · page 245Read the page →
Read the text
Since Mr. Wagstatf took up his residence at Coffeyville, he has sei'ved one year as attorney for that city, from April 3rd, 1900, to April 3rd, 1901, was judge of the court of Coffeyville from October 1st, 1901, to February 7th, 1902, and was, during' the last half of 1902, assistant county attorney.
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
Coffeyville, 1869 to 1960
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 Coffeyville post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Coffeyville rank for history?
Coffeyville is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #22 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.
What is on the National Register in Coffeyville?
7 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Condon National Bank (listed 1973, the first). 12 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Coffeyville?
37% of Coffeyville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.
1880
1889
c. 1892
1892
