Kansas City dates to 1868, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns · #27 of 151 in Kansas State. What drives it
44 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Wyandotte National Burying Ground, Eliza Burton Conley Burial Site, a National Historic Landmark, and five historic districts with 349 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1855.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kansas City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kansas City is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #27 of 151 in Kansas State. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kansas City’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Kansas City ranks #136 on History.
Kansas State towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas State town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Kansas City’s 25.1 sits above most of its state (85% of Kansas State towns have fewer) while its 389 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% 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 (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1868.
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 Kansas City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Kansas City’s post office has been open since 1885. 20 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Wyandotte
1855–1887
Quindaro
1857–1954
Island Creek
1866–1866
Connor's Station
1867–1889
Nearman
1867–1875
Pomeroy
1869–1906
White Church
1869–1907
Muncie
1870–today
Maywood
1872–1909
Rosedale
1872–1902
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
American Eagle Mobile Home EstatesArgentineBethelBeverly HillsCreekside Estates Mobile Home ParkFairfaxGlenbrook Mobile Home CommunityGrays ParkGrinter HeightsKansas Trailer VillageKaw View Mobile Home EstatesLoma VistaM And R Mobile Home ParkMaywoodMin - Rock VillageMorrisMuncieNearmanPiperPomeroyQuivira Hills Estates Mobile Home ParkRiver Oaks Estates Mobile Home ParkRiver View Mobile Country ClubRoyal Mobile Home Court
Gone or out of use
Abbot SchoolschoolAttucks SchoolschoolBaptist MissionlocaleBlessed Sacrament SchoolschoolBraman HilllocaleBryant Elementary SchoolschoolBuchanlocaleCalorificlocaleCenter Point SchoolschoolCoffey SchoolschoolDistrict Number 45 SchoolschoolDunbar SchoolschoolFairfax Municipal AirportairportFort CavagnollemilitaryFranklin SchoolschoolGreystone HeightslocaleGrinterlocaleHancock Airportairport
25family graveyards and cemeteries inside Kansas City
BethelChapel Hill Memorial GardensGriffithGrinterHighland ParkHuronHuron IndianMaple HillMaywood Community ChurchMemorial ParkMount CalvaryMount HopeOak GroveOld QuindaroPrairieQuindaroSaint John'sSaint Patrick Catholic ChurchSaylorShawnee TownshipStony PointTensquatawaWestlawWoodlawnWyandotte County
See all 25
Bethel Cemetery · Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens · Griffith Cemetery · Grinter Cemetery · Highland Park Cemetery · Huron Cemetery · Huron Indian Cemetery · Maple Hill Cemetery · Maywood Community Church Cemetery · Memorial Park Cemetery · Mount Calvary Cemetery · Mount Hope Cemetery · Oak Grove Cemetery · Old Quindaro Cemetery · Prairie Cemetery · Quindaro Cemetery · Saint John's Cemetery · Saint Patrick Catholic Church Cemetery · Saylor Cemetery · Shawnee Township Cemetery · Stony Point Cemetery · Tensquatawa Burial Ground · Westlaw Cemetery · Woodlawn Cemetery · Wyandotte County Cemetery
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Kansas City can trace its origins back to the earlier city of Wyandotte (also called "Wyandotte City"), which was incorporated by an act of the Kansas Territorial legislature on January 29, 1859. In October 1872, "old" Kansas City, Kansas, was incorporated under its current name. The first city election was held on October 22 of that year by order of Judge Hiram Stevens of the Tenth Judicial District and resulted in the election of Mayor James Boyle. The mayors of the city after its organization were James Boyle, C. A. Eidemiller, A. S. Orbison, Eli Teed, and Samuel McConnell. In June 1880, the Governor of Kansas, John St. John, proclaimed the city of Kansas City a city of the second class with Mayor McConnell present.
Passages that mention Kansas City, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The life of Father Bernard Donnelly1921 · page 141Read the page →
Read the text
The St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum still retains its original location, on the ten acres donated by Father Donnelly. The Park Board of Kansas City has secured the permanency and usefulness of the asylum on its original site by swinging around it the picturesque boulevard arising from Penn Valley Park and named for one of Kansas City's greatest citizens, Mr. Karnes, whose loyalty to Kansas City
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
Kansas City, 1843 to 1943
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kansas City. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1943Shawnee sheet · 1:31,680
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kansas City.
Every building
Kansas City, building by building, 1889–1908
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.
In 1868, according to Wikidata. Kansas City’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1880 counted 3,200 people here.
How does Kansas City rank for history?
Kansas City is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #27 of 151 in Kansas State. 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 Kansas City?
44 listings: 34 buildings, among them the Grinter Place (listed 1971, the first), 5 historic districts with 349 contributing buildings, 3 sites, and 2 structures. 389 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Kansas City?
21% of Kansas City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas State town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (7), the National Register of Historic Places (44), 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.
★ Landmark
1857
1903
1917
1917
1917
1917
