Hoisington’s post office opened in 1887, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns · #39 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
Its Register listings are the US Post Office-Hoisington, the Manweiler-Maupin Chevrolet and the Hoisington High School. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Hoisington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hoisington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hoisington is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #39 of 151 in Kansas. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hoisington’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 Hoisington’s 11.4 sits above most of its state (66% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±7.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Hoisington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1886, a group of Barton County businessmen formed the Central Kansas Town Company and founded the town of Hoisington to attract the Kansas and Colorado Railroad to the area. They named the settlement after Andrew J. Hoisington, one of the company partners and a prominent businessman in nearby Great Bend. The railroad reached Hoisington in the fall of 1886, and the settlement was incorporated as a city in 1887. The post office, relocated from nearby Buena Vista, was renamed Hoisington in April 1887 as was the railroad station, originally named Monon, by 1889.
Passages that mention Hoisington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Biographical history of Barton County, Kansas1912 · page 173Read the page →
Read the text
trade of carpenter in different parts of that section of the state. He came to Barton County in 18S7, and bought land one and a half miles north of Hoisington. He remained on this farm for eight years and then moved to the town of Hoisington and in the fall of 190:i was elected to the office of covmty treasurer.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Biographical history of Barton County, Kansas1912 · page 194Read the page →
Read the text
Missouri Pacific railroad was being built west from Kansas City, and th > construction force had reached a point near where is now the townsite of Hoisington, a company of well known Kansas men began the laying out of the town that takes its name from the head of the company, A. J.
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
Hoisington, 1887 to 1995
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
The Hoisington post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hoisington rank for history?
Hoisington is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #39 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 Hoisington?
Three places: the US Post Office-Hoisington (listed 1989), the Manweiler-Maupin Chevrolet (2012) and the Hoisington High School (2005).
How old are the homes in Hoisington?
33% of Hoisington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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