The Leoti post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bonasa (1886), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
2020 census: 1,475139 years
How historic is Leoti?
B+
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Leoti post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Leoti’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Leoti is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Leoti’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 Leoti’s 22.1 sits above most of its state (83% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings 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 (±7.8 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 Leoti’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Leoti was founded in 1885 by a company of men from Garden City, Kansas. Two years later, in 1887, it was involved in the bloodiest county seat fight in the history of the American West. The shoot-out was on February 27, 1887, when men—some say hired gunmen—from Leoti, went to the neighboring, rival town of Coronado and left several people dead and wounded. A small town called Farmer City which was located between Coronado and Leoti, was hoped by some to become the county seat—which would end the fighting. Leoti later won the right to become the county seat and now the two other towns consist mainly of farmland.
Leoti’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Bonasa, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Bonasa
1886–1887
Leoti
1887–today
18801950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Leoti’s history
What year was Leoti founded?
The Leoti post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Leoti rank for history?
Leoti is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. 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 Leoti?
Two places: the William B. and Julia Washington House (listed 2014) and the Municipal Auditorium and City Hall (2019).
How old are the homes in Leoti?
18% of Leoti’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2023
2005