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History · Glasco

Glasco’s post office opened in 1869, and 54% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 22 buildings. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1880.

1869first post office

1on the National Register

54%homes built before 1940

1famous people

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Quick answers

How Glasco began

When was Glasco founded?

1869

The Glasco post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1871.

First census: 207 in 18802020 census: 441157 years

Founding year: the first Glasco post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1871.The full story ↓

What stands out about Glasco’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 Glasco are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18924 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Glasco change.Old housesHalf of Glasco’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 812 in 1960; 441 people lived here in 2020.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Glasco’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

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On the map

Glasco on the map, 1892 to 1985

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

1892Minneapolis 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 Glasco.

The story

How Glasco came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Glasco.

Read it all →

Glasco was originally called Del Ray, and under the latter name was laid out and platted in 1870. The name Glasco was adopted officially by the Kansas legislature in 1878 and incorporated as a city of the third class April 14, 1886, and named after Glasgow, Scotland. Glasco was a shipping point on the Union Pacific railroad.

This small town has two items of interest on the National Register of Historic Places: Pott's Ford Bridge is located just 1/2 mile south of the city limits, and the entire downtown business district has also earned a listing on the register.

ChaptersHistoric sites

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Glasco in 1903

Passages that mention Glasco, cut from the printed page as they were published.

one priest doing the w'ork for both parishes, having his seat of residence at Delphos, that being the most central point among his other missions. The first priest was Father Frederick, who came to Glasco from Beloit and before a residence was established at Delphos. The church was built under his … — **Biographical history of Cloud County, Kansas**1903 · page 531Read the page →
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one priest doing the w'ork for both parishes, having his seat of residence at Delphos, that being the most central point among his other missions. The first priest was Father Frederick, who came to Glasco from Beloit and before a residence was established at Delphos. The church was built under his supervision and the congregation consisted of about twenty families. The church seats about one hundred and is getting too small for the congregation.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

The first game of moment in 1898 was with the Ottawa University at Concordia, and resulted in a score of Glasco eleven, Ottawa nothing. Washburn being none the less daunted by a former defeat, demonstrated their pluck by marching themselves against Glasco in another game. There was but twenty minut… — **Biographical history of Cloud County, Kansas**1903 · page 535Read the page →
Read the text
The first game of moment in 1898 was with the Ottawa University at Concordia, and resulted in a score of Glasco eleven, Ottawa nothing. Washburn being none the less daunted by a former defeat, demonstrated their pluck by marching themselves against Glasco in another game. There was but twenty minutes of the game played, and the score stood twenty-eight to nothing in favor of Glasco. A game played with Abilene resulted in a score of Glasco thirty-tw^o, Abilene nothing. With a few minor games the season closed.
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.

Timeline

Glasco, 1869 to 1960

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

19th century
1869Post officeThe Glasco post office opens
1876Born hereElmer Stricklett is born here
1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1960CensusPopulation peaks at 812

By decade

Glasco, decade by decade

Today1 recent

2004KSMap-doton-Glasco

On the National Register

1 listing protects 22 historic buildings

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2002

Glasco Downtown Historic District

Districts

Glasco Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict

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

People over time

Glasco, census by census

Peaked at 812 in 1960; 441 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Glasco’s history

What year was Glasco founded?

The Glasco post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1871.

What is on the National Register in Glasco?

One place: the Glasco Downtown Historic District (listed 2002).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →

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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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), 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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