Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The Potosi Township post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Potosi Township is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds 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 Potosi Township’s 8.3 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 Potosi Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Potosi Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Potosi Township is a township in Linn County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,876.
Its first post office opened in 1859. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,840 in 2010, 1,876 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings 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 Potosi Township. 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 Potosi Township.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Potosi Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Potosi Township post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Potosi Township is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. 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 Mine Creek Bridge (listed 1983) and the Battle of Mine Creek Site (1973).
23% of Potosi Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
