Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Elkhart

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C−History
History · Elkhart

Elkhart’s post office opened in 1913, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1973 on, and the census since 1920.

1913first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Elkhart’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Elkhart began

When was Elkhart founded?

1913

The Elkhart post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sid (1909), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,160 in 19202020 census: 1,888113 years

How historic is Elkhart?

C−

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Elkhart post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Elkhart’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elkhart is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elkhart’s overall grade.
Founding era1913, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194018.9% of homes (±7.9) · 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 24%
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 Elkhart’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 (±7.9 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 Elkhart’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1930 and 1940, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elkhart’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elkhart’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewElkhart, Kansas (circa 1900-1910): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Elkhart, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001920194019601980200020201,485 in 1930Low: 902

Lost a third of its people between 1930 and 1940, then more than doubled.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elkhart’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Elkhart came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Elkhart.

Read it all →

Elkhart was founded in 1913, and was named after Elkhart, Indiana.

Elkhart grew up along the tracks of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which came in from Dodge City. Elkhart was also the starting point of the Elkhart and Santa Fe Railway. The latter line, both leased to and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Santa Fe railway, was built in 1925 to Felt, Oklahoma, and extended into New Mexico in 1932; but, was abandoned in 1942.

In 1961, the county seat was moved from Richfield to Elkhart.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Elkhart, 1900 to 1990

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900In the archiveElkhart, Kansas (circa 1900-1910)
  3. 1909Post officeThe Sid post office opens
  4. 1913Post officeThe Sid post office closes
  5. 1913Post officeThe Elkhart post office opens
  6. 1931Born hereThane Baker is born here
  7. 1935Born hereJoann Flower is born here
  8. 1937In the archiveDust storm. Elkhart, Kansas
  9. 1949Born hereBill Light is born here
  10. 1973Born hereDarrin Simmons is born here
  11. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 2,318
By decade

Elkhart, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s2 items
Elkhart, Kansas (circa 1900-1910)1900–1910Elkhart, Kansas (circa 1900-1910)Dust storm. Elkhart, Kansas1937Dust storm. Elkhart, Kansas
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today9 recent
City of Elkhart Kansas City hall2024City of Elkhart Kansas City hallWindmill height displays developmental impacts in Elkhart, KS2018Windmill height displays developmental impacts in Elk…Windmill displays human impacts in Elkhart, KS2018Windmill displays human impacts in Elkhart, KSInformational panel at Morton County Historical Society Museum in2018Informational panel at Morton County Historical Socie…A wagon at Morton County Historical Society Museum in2018A wagon at Morton County Historical Society Museum inThe "Cimarron River" wayside with a view at Point of Rocks in2015The "Cimarron River" wayside with a view at Point of …The "Cimarron River" wayside at Point of Rocks in2015The "Cimarron River" wayside at Point of Rocks inMortonCoCH2009MortonCoCHKSMap-doton-Elkhart2005KSMap-doton-Elkhart
On the map

Elkhart on the map, 1973 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elkhart. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Elkhart on the 1973 USGS mapElkhart on the 1983 USGS map1973Elkhart North sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elkhart.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Elkhart, Kansas (circa 1900-1910)
Retake this viewElkhart, Kansas (circa 1900-1910), 1900–1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Elkhart’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

5 famous people were born in Elkhart

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
T
Thane BakerAmerican sprinter · b. 1931
B
Bill LightAmerican politician · b. 1949
D
Darrin SimmonsAmerican football player and coach · b. 1973
J
Joann FlowerAmerican politician · b. 1935
C
Cal BolderAmerican actor · b. 1931
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Elkhart’s post office has been open since 1913. Another post office, Sid, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sid
1909–1913
Elkhart
1913–today
19001960today
1cemetery inside Elkhart
Elkhart

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Elkhart’s history

What year was Elkhart founded?

The Elkhart post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Elkhart rank for history?

Elkhart is more historic than 24% 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 Elkhart?

19% of Elkhart’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1966.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (10), the Library of Congress (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) 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.