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History · Mentor

Mentor’s post office opened in 1881, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1892 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Mentor began

When was Mentor founded?

1881

The Mentor post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 101145 years
Founding year: the first Mentor post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mentor’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mentor are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18926 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1990. Watch Mentor change.Old housesHalf of Mentor’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mentor’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Mentor on the map, 1892 to 1990

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

Mentor on the 1892 USGS mapMentor on the 1942 USGS mapMentor on the 1955 USGS mapMentor on the 1978 USGS mapMentor on the 1985 USGS mapMentor on the 1990 USGS map1892Salina 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 Mentor.

The story

How Mentor came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mentor.

Read it all →

A railroad previously ran north–south through Mentor, but it was later abandoned.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Mentor

Nobody well known was born in Mentor itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Dwight FryeActor · b. 1899
Adrianna FranchAmerican soccer player · b. 1990
B
Bill WheatleyBasketball player · b. 1909
George MurdockAmerican film actor · b. 1930
Geraldine L. RichmondAmerican chemist and physicist · b. 1953
Bill Graves43rd Governor of Kansas · b. 1953

Questions about Mentor’s history

What year was Mentor founded?

The Mentor post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.