25% of Mission Hills’ homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #13 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 1 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1950.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mission Hills is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #13 of 151 in Kansas. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mission Hills’ 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 Mission Hills’ 8.5 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Mission Hills’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
An Indian mission was established at the town's site in the 1830s, hence the name of the later settlement.
The city started as a planned upscale community for the elite by J.C. Nichols to be built around the Mission Hills Country Club (Kansas) on the hills above Brush Creek just south of the Shawnee Methodist Mission. Most of the country club's property is in Kansas but its original clubhouse was in Kansas City, Missouri, allowing it to serve liquor, which was prohibited on the Kansas side. Nichols laid out plans in 1914. He had developed the country club to enhance the value of his Kansas properties after discovering that upscale buyers were reluctant to live on the Kansas side of the state line.
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 Mission Hills. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1935Kansas City sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mission Hills.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewThe Frank E. Jones-Russell Stover Mansion-built in 1924 in, 1923
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mission Hills’ page.
Mission Hills is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #13 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 Mission Hills?
Two places: the Horn-Vincent-Russell Estate (listed 1997) and the Wolcott House (2001).
How old are the homes in Mission Hills?
25% of Mission Hills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1953.
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 (8), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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