Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Moran

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Moran

Moran’s post office opened in 1899, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1890.

1899first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Moran began

When was Moran founded?

1899

The Moran post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Orel (1875) and Morantown (1881), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 463 in 18902020 census: 466127 years
Founding year: the first Moran post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Moran’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 Moran are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18866 editions of the USGS map, 1886 to 1990. Watch Moran change.Boom and bustPeaked at 676 in 1920; 466 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Moran.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Moran’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Moran on the map, 1886 to 1990

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

Moran on the 1886 USGS mapMoran on the 1893 USGS mapMoran on the 1904 USGS mapMoran on the 1966 USGS mapMoran on the 1985 USGS mapMoran on the 1990 USGS map1886Iola 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 Moran.

People over time

Moran, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 676

Peaked at 676 in 1920; 466 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Moran’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Moran came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Moran.

Read it all →

Moran had its start in the year 1881 by the building of the Saint Louis, Fort Scott, and Wichita Railroad (later known as the Wichita & Western Division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad) through that territory. The Kansas City Pacific (later known as the Kansas City subdivision of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad) built through the town. The community was originally called Morantown.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Moran, 1875 to 1947

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Orel post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Orel post office closes
  4. 1881Post officeThe Morantown post office opens
  5. 1886On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1899Post officeThe Morantown post office closes
  7. 1899Post officeThe Moran post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 676
  10. 1947Born hereDebra Dene Barnes is born here
By decade

Moran, decade by decade

Today1 recent
KSMap-doton-Moran2004KSMap-doton-Moran
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Moran’s post office has been open since 1899. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Orel
1875–1881
Morantown
1881–1899
Moran
1899–today
18701950today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Moran’s history

What year was Moran founded?

The Moran post office opened in 1899, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.