The story
Read it all →How Colwich came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Colwich.
Colwich was founded in 1887. The name is a portmanteau of Colorado and Wichita, or the Colorado & Wichita Railroad.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Colwich
Colwich’s post office opened in 1885, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 1890.
1885first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Colwich began
When was Colwich founded?
1885
The Colwich post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 212 in 18902020 census: 1,455141 years
How historic is Colwich?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Colwich post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Colwich’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Colwich is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. 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 Colwich’s overall grade.
Founding era1885, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194013.1% of homes (±8.2) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical KS town 5.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
NewerOlder
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 Colwich’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 (±8.2 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 Colwich’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Colwich’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Colwich’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Colwich on the map, 1889 to 1990
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Colwich. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1889Cheney sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Colwich.
By decade
Colwich, decade by decade
2026
2012
2010People over time
Colwich, census by census
Grew from 212 people in 1890 to 1,455 in 2020, 6 times over.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Colwich’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Colwich
Nobody well known was born in Colwich itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
C
Colton HaynesAmerican actor and model · b. 1986Questions about Colwich’s history
What year was Colwich founded?
The Colwich post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Colwich rank for history?
Colwich is more historic than 30% 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 Colwich?
13% of Colwich’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1975.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, 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.