Hays dates to 1867, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns · #59 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1867.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hays’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hays is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #59 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 Hays’ 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 Hays’ 35.5 sits above most of its state (88% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 75 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1867.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 points) is firm at this size.
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 Hays’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Hays’s post office has been open since 1895. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Big Creek Station
1867–1867
Hays City
1867–1895
Hays
1895–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cottonwood Mobile Home ParkCountryside Mobile Home EstatesFort Hays Trailer Park
Gone or out of use
Saint Joseph Grade Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hays
Mount AllenSaint Joseph
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Hays, building by building, 1891–1918
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.
Before American settlement of the area, the site of Hays was located near where the territories of the Arapaho, Kiowa, and Pawnee met. 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. The state government delineated the surrounding area as Ellis 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 1867, according to Wikidata. Hays’ post office opened in 1867, and the census of 1870 counted 320 people here.
How does Hays rank for history?
Hays is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #59 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 Hays?
9 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Fort Hays (listed 1971, the first), and 1 historic district, the Justus Bissing, Jr. Historic District, with 2 contributing buildings. 75 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Hays?
10% of Hays’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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.
2004
