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C+History
History · Eudora

Eudora’s post office opened in 1857, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #81 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it

Most of Eudora was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1880.

1857first post office
4on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Eudora began

When was Eudora founded?

1857

The Eudora post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 572 in 18802020 census: 6,408169 years

How historic is Eudora?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Eudora’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eudora is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #81 of 151 in Kansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Eudora’s overall grade.
Founding era1857, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19406.2% of homes (±5.2) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register4 listings, 5 historic buildings, 8.2 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 47%

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 Eudora’s 8.2 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±5.2 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 Eudora’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Eudora are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Eudora’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

4 historic places in Eudora

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Charles Pilla House
Charles Pilla HouseFirst Methodist Church of Eudora, built 1921Holy Family Catholic ChurchCohn/Gardner-Hill & Company Store
Buildings
Charles Pilla HouseBuilding
First Methodist Church of EudoraBuilt 1921
All 4 listings
Holy Family Catholic ChurchBuilding · listed 2020Cohn/Gardner-Hill & Company StoreBuilding · listed 2021

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

The story

How Eudora came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Eudora.

Read it all →

The Eudora area was home to various Native American tribes for thousands of years. The Kansa tribe lived in the Eudora area from the 1600s to the early 1800s. The Kansa lived along the rivers of this region in villages and practiced agriculture. A Kansa village was located at the site of modern-day Eudora in the 1790s. In the 1820s the Kansa were forcibly removed from the region by the U.S. government to make room for the Shawnee tribe. The Oregon Trail and Santa Fe Trail passed through the region, just a few miles south of modern Eudora.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Eudora, 1857 to 1998

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Eudora post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1921BuiltFirst Methodist Church of Eudora is built
  5. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1989Born hereChase Austin is born here
  7. 1998Born hereMitch Ballock is born here
By decade

Eudora, decade by decade

Today18 recent
First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KSFirst Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS west facade2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS west f…First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS west and south facade2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS west a…First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS west and north facades2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS west a…First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS two stained glass windows2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS two st…First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS stained glass windows2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS staine…First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS south and east facades2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS south …First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS north facade2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS north …First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS north facade cornerstone2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS north …First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS north and west facades2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS north …First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS east facade2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS east f…First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS east facade cornerstone2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS east f…First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS east and north facades2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS east a…First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS decorative stone panel2025First Methodist Church of Eudora Douglas Co KS decora…Pascal & Eudora Fish Statue2011Pascal & Eudora Fish StatueOld Holy Family Church2008Old Holy Family ChurchMethodist Church 20082008Methodist Church 2008KSMap-doton-Eudora2004KSMap-doton-Eudora
On the map

Eudora on the map, 1951 to 1970

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

Eudora on the 1951 USGS mapEudora on the 1970 USGS map1951Eudora 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 Eudora.

Every building

Eudora, building by building, 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 sheet.

Eudora fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

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

People over time

Eudora, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,000188019001920194019601980200020206,408

Grew from 572 people in 1880 to 6,408 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Eudora

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

See all →
Chase AustinAmerican racing driver · b. 1989
Mitch BallockAmerican basketball player · b. 1998
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Eudora’s post office has been open since 1857.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Grandview Mobile Home Park
1cemetery inside Eudora
Eudora City

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

Questions about Eudora’s history

What year was Eudora founded?

The Eudora post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Eudora rank for history?

Eudora is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #81 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 Eudora?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Charles Pilla House (listed 1974, the first). 5 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Eudora?

6% of Eudora’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1996.

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 (18), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.