16 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Council Grove Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 47 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1855.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Council Grove’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Council Grove is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Council Grove’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 Council Grove’s 274 sits above most of its state (99% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 62 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 points). Two sources give 1847.
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 Council Grove’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
On the map
Council Grove on the map, 1885 to 1983
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Council Grove. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1885Eskridge 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 Council Grove.
Every building
Council Grove, building by building, 1885–1922
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.
Council Grove gets its name from an 1827 treaty signing with Osage Indians under an oak tree for the right-of-way for the Santa Fe Trail.
Council Grove was a stop on the Santa Fe Trail. The first European-American settler was Seth M. Hays, who came to the area in 1847 to trade with the Kaw tribe, which had a reservation established in the area in 1846. Hays was a great-grandson of Daniel Boone.
The Main street in Council Grove is the old Santa Fe Trail. The Rawlinson-Terwilliger Home, 803 West Main Street, is the oldest stone home on the Santa Fe Trail and houses the Trail Days Cafe & Museum.
A post office was established in Council Grove on February 26, 1855.
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 1847, according to Wikidata. Council Grove’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1870 counted 712 people here.
How does Council Grove rank for history?
Council Grove is more historic than 97% 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 Council Grove?
16 listings: 12 buildings, 2 historic districts, the Council Grove Historic District and the Council Grove Downtown Historic District, with 47 contributing buildings, 2 sites, and 1 object. 62 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Council Grove?
39% of Council Grove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1957.
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), Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (17), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
★ Landmark
1880
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