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Ellinwood P5310457Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 4.0
BHistory
History · Ellinwood

Ellinwood’s post office opened in 1872, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 61% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Wolf Hotel and the Wolf Park Band Shell. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1880.

1872first post office
2on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ellinwood’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ellinwood began

When was Ellinwood founded?

1872

The Ellinwood post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 352 in 18802020 census: 2,011154 years

How historic is Ellinwood?

B

More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Ellinwood’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ellinwood is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ellinwood’s overall grade.
Founding era1872, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194021.0% of homes (±5.5) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register2 listings, 9.1 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 61%
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 Ellinwood’s 9.1 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. 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 Ellinwood’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18914 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1985. Watch Ellinwood change.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,729 in 1960; 2,011 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Ellinwood’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ellinwood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEllinwood KS - 1917: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Ellinwood on the map, 1891 to 1985

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

Ellinwood on the 1891 USGS mapEllinwood on the 1957 USGS mapEllinwood on the 1979 USGS mapEllinwood on the 1985 USGS map1891Great Bend 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 Ellinwood.

People over time

Ellinwood, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,729

Peaked at 2,729 in 1960; 2,011 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Ellinwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ellinwood.

Read it all →

The first claim at Ellinwood was staked in 1871 when it was certain the Santa Fe railroad would be completed nearby. Milton W. Halsey made the first claim, while his friend, Aaron Burlison, was the town's first postmaster. The railroad was finished in 1872 and the city was named after Colonel John R. Ellinwood, a civil engineer working for the Santa Fe railroad. Although neither the founder nor the original settlers were German, many of the main streets were given German names, in order to appeal to German immigrant buyers.

In 1876, the Catholic settlers of Ellinwood organized a parish, followed by the Lutherans in 1877.

Chapters19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ellinwood, 1872 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Ellinwood post office opens
  3. 1889Born hereLee Dressen is born here
  4. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1910Born hereClarice Short is born here
  7. 1917In the archiveEllinwood KS - 1917
  8. 1919Born hereWally Hickel is born here
  9. 1948Born hereRandall Roth is born here
  10. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 2,729
By decade

Ellinwood, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Ellinwood KS - 19171917Ellinwood KS - 1917
1920s–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
Today11 recent
Sign for the Wolf Hotel2021Sign for the Wolf HotelEllinwood Santa Fe Trail Marker (DAR) P53104612012Ellinwood Santa Fe Trail Marker (DAR) P5310461Ellinwood Santa Fe Trail Marker (DAR) P53104602012Ellinwood Santa Fe Trail Marker (DAR) P5310460Ellinwood Santa Fe Trail Marker (DAR) P53104592012Ellinwood Santa Fe Trail Marker (DAR) P5310459Ellinwood P53104582012Ellinwood P5310458Ellinwood P53104572012Ellinwood P5310457Ellinwood P53104552012Ellinwood P5310455Ellinwood (west of Great Bend) P53104562012Ellinwood (west of Great Bend) P5310456Detailed map of2010Detailed map ofMapNastalgia2006NastalgiaKSMap-doton-Ellinwood2004KSMap-doton-Ellinwood
Every building

Ellinwood, building by building, 1905–1912

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.

Ellinwood fire insurance map, 1905, sheet 11905Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Ellinwood KS - 1917
Retake this viewEllinwood KS - 1917, 1917

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Ellinwood

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2002
Wolf Hotel
Wolf HotelWolf Park Band Shell
Buildings
Wolf HotelBuilding
Wolf Park Band ShellBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Ellinwood

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

See all →
W
Wally HickelGovernor of Alaska, United States Secretary of … · b. 1919
R
Randall RothLaw professor · b. 1948
Lee DressenAmerican baseball player · b. 1889
C
Clarice ShortAmerican poet · b. 1910
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Ellinwood’s post office has been open since 1872.

Hamlets and corners on the map
South Side Mobile Court
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ellinwood
Lakin - ComancheLakin Comanche

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lakin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Ellinwood’s history

What year was Ellinwood founded?

The Ellinwood post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Ellinwood rank for history?

Ellinwood is more historic than 61% 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 Ellinwood?

Two places: the Wolf Hotel (listed 2002) and the Wolf Park Band Shell (2003).

How old are the homes in Ellinwood?

21% of Ellinwood’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 1955.

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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.