Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Lincoln School, District 2. Below: maps from 1924 on and the census since 1880.
The Elwood post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elwood is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Elwood’s 9.5 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elwood’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elwood. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elwood.
From Wikipedia’s history of Elwood.
A trading post was established at Elwood in 1852. In 1856, the site was sold and the town was then laid out. The town was named for John B. Elwood, a pioneer settler. Elwood was incorporated as a city in 1860.
The first post office in Elwood was established in June, 1857.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Elwood, cut from the printed page as they were published.
There was but one incorporated company in Elwood in 1881, It was the Elwood Building association, the office of which was located at the corner of Sixth and Douglas streets. The concern was incorporated in 1860 by D. W. Wilder, A. L. Lee, Charles II. Hatcher.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of its early completion through our county, M'hicii will add greatly to the value of property in all parts of the county, and give us an outlet from the interior. This road makes its starting point at the river bank, in the southeastern part of the town of Elwood, running due west to Wathena, and from thence following the valley of Peter's Creek to its head at Troy (time far an excellent route) ; from Troy it takes (according to the survey) a direction almost due west to the western line of the county. It will probably be completed to Troy, during
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
known as the " Elwood Town Company." This company purchased the land around Rose Port, and during the same season, purchased Hose Port, and surveyed and entered the city of Elwood, under a charter granted by the Kansas Territorial Legislature, and commenced her career as one of our Kansas cities.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first mile of railroad on Kansas soil was built out of Elwood in the dry year of 1860. From the spring of 1860 to the fall of 1861, the town was the starting point of the famous Pony Express, an account of which will he found elsewhere in this volume.
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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 323 and 1,283 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elwood’s Wikipedia page.
Elwood’s post office has been open since 1857.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Elwood post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Elwood is more historic than 48% 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.
One place: the Lincoln School, District 2 (listed 2014).
12% of Elwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1979.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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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