Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1890.
Overbrook dates its founding to 1886 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1890.
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 Overbrook’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Overbrook. 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 Overbrook.
From Wikipedia’s history of Overbrook.
The Santa Fe Trail passed through the Overbrook area, and ruts can still be seen at certain locations in and around the city.
Overbrook was founded in 1886 when William T. Coffman and Jasper B. Fairchild each donated 30 acres toward the building of a city. It is named after Overbrook, Pennsylvania, the home town of a railroad construction engineer.
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.
In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kansas (KS) - Osage County - Overbrook - ED 70-10
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1905Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Overbrook’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 172 and 1,058 people in every census since 1890.
9 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Overbrook’s Wikipedia page.
In 1886, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Overbrook’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1890 counted 172 people here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2025
2005