Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1910.
The Garden Plain post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1884.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Garden Plain is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Garden Plain’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.
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 Garden Plain’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Garden Plain. 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 Garden Plain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Garden Plain.
Garden Plain got its start following construction of the Wichita and Western Railroad from Wichita to Kingman.
The first post office in Garden Plain was established in January 1883. Garden Plain was incorporated in 1902.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Garden Plain, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Garden Plain has one bank called the State Bank of Garden Plain. This bank was organized in 1901, with H. F. G. Wulf as president at this time, William H. Taylor, Jr., as vice-president and G. A. Tayer as cashier. This bank also has a paid-up capital of $10,000.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveFrosty TreatOne decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Grew from 296 people in 1910 to 948 in 2020, 3 times over.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Garden Plain’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Garden Plain itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Garden Plain post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1884.
Garden Plain is more historic than 31% 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.
13% of Garden Plain’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (4), 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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