Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #85 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
Most of Merriam was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: maps from 1934 on and the census since 1960.
The Merriam post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1950. Three smaller post offices, Glenwood (1872), Spring Place (1872) and South Park (1888), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Merriam is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #85 of 151 in Kansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Merriam’s 4.5 sits near the middle of its state (45% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Merriam’s history is told.
Merriam had its own post office from 1881 to 1960. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Merriam.
Merriam was incorporated as a third class city on October 23, 1950, and established second class city status on January 18, 1957.
The city was named in honor of Charles Merriam, a one-time secretary/treasurer of the then Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf railroad (later the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway) which ran through the area.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Merriam. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Merriam.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 5,084 and 11,821 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Merriam’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Merriam post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1950.
Merriam is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #85 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.
Two places: the Loomis Historic District (listed 2006) and the Hocker, R.W., Subdivision, Lot K Spec House (2017).
7% of Merriam’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1970.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.
2005
