De Soto dates to 1828, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #67 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 145 buildings. Most of De Soto was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives De Soto’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, De Soto is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #67 of 151 in Kansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of De Soto’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 De Soto’s 226 sits above most of its state (98% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 145 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1828.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size.
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 De Soto’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The land that would become De Soto was part of a large territory extending to present-day St. Louis that was occupied by the Osage people, who were relocated from east of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwest. After the Treaty of St Louis in 1825, the Shawnee were forcibly relocated from Cape Girardeau to southeastern Kansas near the Neosho River. Only the Black Bob band of Shawnee resisted removal, however by 1828 they too migrated west and settled in northeastern Kansas in and around De Soto along the Kansas River. Later in the 19th century, many cultures of Native Americans arrived in the area after being pushed west by European-American pressure following colonial expansion and later the discovery of Gold in 1849. Between 1829 and 1854 almost thirty tribes were assigned reservations in what would become Kansas Territory. The Shawnee Methodist Mission was built in the De Soto ar…
J. L. Morgan, of De Soto, was born in Hardin county, Ky., in 1833, and located on the Kar river, three miles west of DeSoto, in 1858. The town of De Soto is located on land then owned by John Possum, a Shawnee Indian. Mr. Possum's cabin is still standing in the barnyard of Mr. Anderson, who owns the farm now. Once, after the Shawnees had drawn their Government money, some of them decided to celebrate with a little firewater, and these met at Possum's cabin, and the usual drunk followed. When Mr. Morgan stopped at 1he place, the little
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Johnson County, Kansas1915 · page 115Read the page →
Read the text
fraternity, and two companions, visited Olathe. Before reaching Olathe they robbed and murdered a Mexican trader. In Olathe they stopped at Charles Tillotson's hardware store and inquired the road to De Soto, enforcing a truthful answer by holding a revolver at his head. Just at the edge of town on their way to De Soto they met Deputy Sheriff Weaver, returning from a cow hunt, and "held him up," but findingno valuables on his person, let him go. Weaver went at once to Sheriff John Janes, who started in pursuit. Janes caught up with Anderson
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
De Soto, 1828 to 1951
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1828, according to Wikidata. De Soto’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1860 counted 35 people here.
How does De Soto rank for history?
De Soto is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #67 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 De Soto?
One place: the Sunflower Village Historic District (listed 2014).
How old are the homes in De Soto?
1% of De Soto’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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.
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