On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Roeland Park is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #92 of 151 in Kansas. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Roeland Park’s 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 Roeland Park’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±6.0 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 Roeland Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The community was named after John Roe, an immigrant from Ireland who settled on 267 acres (1.08 km2) in 1883, on part of which Roeland Park now stands. The Roe Home was built in 1891 and razed in 1958 to make room for the interchange at Roe Boulevard and Shawnee Mission Parkway.
The area that would become Roeland Park was first developed in 1905 as a streetcar suburb, known as Southridge, by William Strang. Strang's Missouri and Kansas Interurban Railway went through Roeland Park on its way from Rosedale to downtown Overland Park. Single-family home construction in this area accelerated during the late 1930s and 1940s as more developers subdivided land purchased from farmers.
Roeland Park is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #92 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.
How old are the homes in Roeland Park?
14% of Roeland Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1950.
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 (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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