Great Bend dates to 1871, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns · #38 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 61 buildings. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1872.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Great Bend’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Great Bend is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #38 of 151 in Kansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Great Bend’s overall grade.
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 Great Bend’s 47.0 sits above most of its state (90% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 68 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points). Two sources give 1871.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Great Bend’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Great Bend, building by building, 1884–1914
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.
Prior to American settlement of the area, the site of Great Bend was located in the northern reaches of Kiowa territory. Claimed first by France as part of Louisiana and later acquired by the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, it lay within the area organized by the U.S. as Kansas Territory in 1854. Kansas became a state in 1861, and the state government delineated the surrounding area as Barton County in 1867.
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.
In 1871, according to Wikidata. Great Bend’s post office opened in 1872, and the census of 1880 counted 1,071 people here.
How does Great Bend rank for history?
Great Bend is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #38 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 Great Bend?
8 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Abel House (listed 2001, the first), 1 historic district, the Great Bend Central Business District, with 61 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 68 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Great Bend?
18% of Great Bend’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 (16), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.
c. 1868
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c. 1879
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