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History · Portis

Portis was first counted by the census in 1880, and 67% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.

1880first census
0on the National Register
67%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Portis’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Portis began

When was Portis founded?

1880

Portis first appears in the census in 1880. Another post office, Bethany (1871), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 43 in 18802020 census: 86146 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Portis’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18933 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1985. Watch Portis change.Old housesHalf of Portis’ homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 390 in 1920; 86 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Portis’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPortis, Osborne County, Kansas: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Portis on the map, 1893 to 1985

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

Portis on the 1893 USGS mapPortis on the 1961 USGS mapPortis on the 1985 USGS map1893Smith Center 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 Portis.

The story

How Portis came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Portis.

Read it all →

The first settlement at Portis was made in 1871. In that year a trading post was established at the site.

In 1879, the town was platted with the name of Bethany. The Central Branch Railroad routed through the city and built a station. Later, the railroad was sold to the Missouri Pacific Railroad, becoming the second "Bethany" on their railroad system. To prevent conflicts with Bethany, Missouri, it was decided to change the name of this station. The name was changed to Portis, in honor of the Vice-President of the Missouri Pacific, Thomas Jefferson Portis (born in 1827).

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Portis, 1871 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Bethany post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Bethany post office closes
  4. 1880Post officeThe Portis post office opens
  5. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1911In the archivePortis, Osborne County, Kansas
  8. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 390
By decade

Portis, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Portis, Osborne County, Kansas1911Portis, Osborne County, Kansas
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
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.

Portis, Osborne County, Kansas
Retake this viewPortis, Osborne County, Kansas, 1911

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Portis’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Portis, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 390

Peaked at 390 in 1920; 86 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Portis’s post office has been open since 1880. Another post office, Bethany, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bethany
1871–1880
Portis
1880–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Portis’ history

What year was Portis founded?

The Portis post office opened in 1880, 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, 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.