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History · Greenleaf

Greenleaf dates to 1876, and 57% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.

1876founded
0on the National Register
57%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Greenleaf’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Greenleaf began

When was Greenleaf founded?

1876

Greenleaf dates its founding to 1876 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 316 in 18802020 census: 350150 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1871.The full story ↓

What stands out about Greenleaf’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18894 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1983. Watch Greenleaf change.Old housesHalf of Greenleaf’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 916 in 1890; 350 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Greenleaf’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGreenleaf Kansas Farmyard: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Greenleaf on the map, 1889 to 1983

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

Greenleaf on the 1889 USGS mapGreenleaf on the 1894 USGS mapGreenleaf on the 1968 USGS mapGreenleaf on the 1983 USGS map1889Marysville 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 Greenleaf.

The story

How Greenleaf came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greenleaf.

Read it all →

Greenleaf was founded in 1876. It was incorporated in 1880. Greenleaf was named for A. W. Greenleaf, the treasurer of the Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad. The post office at Round Grove, Kansas; which had been known at various times as Prospect Hill and Hopper, was moved to Greenleaf when the railroad missed the settlement.

A tornado hit Greenleaf on September 25, 1973. The tornado demolished 42 homes, 26 businesses and took the lives of two children.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Greenleaf, 1871 to 1978

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Hopper post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Round Grove post office opens
  4. 1874Post officeThe Hopper post office closes
  5. 1876
    FoundingGreenleaf is established
  6. 1877Post officeThe Round Grove post office closes
  7. 1877Post officeThe Greenleaf post office opens
  8. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 916
  10. 20th century
  11. 1978In the archiveGreenleaf Kansas Farmyard
By decade

Greenleaf, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s1 item
Greenleaf Kansas Farmyard1978Greenleaf Kansas Farmyard
1980s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
KSMap-doton-Greenleaf2005KSMap-doton-Greenleaf
Every building

Greenleaf, building by building, 1886–1911

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.

Greenleaf fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Greenleaf Kansas Farmyard
Retake this viewGreenleaf Kansas Farmyard, 1978

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Greenleaf’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Greenleaf, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 916

Peaked at 916 in 1890; 350 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Greenleaf’s post office has been open since 1877. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hopper
1871–1874
Round Grove
1871–1877
Greenleaf
1877–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Greenleaf’s history

What year was Greenleaf founded?

In 1876, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Greenleaf’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1880 counted 316 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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 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.