Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Scott City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Scott City is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #98 of 151 in Kansas. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Scott City’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 Scott City’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points). Two sources give 1885.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
What stands out about Scott City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Scott City was founded in 1885. Like Scott County, the city is named in recognition of a United States General, Winfield Scott. In October 1884, two women from Chicago, Illinois claimed the land that Scott City is on and built a cabin. The following February, two men from Chicago came to the cabin and settled. Soon after, many people started arriving in the county and Scott City was then founded in 1885. Before being founded, Mrs. M.E. De Geer, one of the women that came from Chicago, started a newspaper called the Western Times in March 1885. The county then started to fill rapidly.
Scott City’s post office has been open since 1913. Another post office, Scott, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Scott
1880–1913
Scott City
1913–today
18801950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Scott City’s history
What year was Scott City founded?
In 1885, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Scott City’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1890 counted 229 people here.
How does Scott City rank for history?
Scott City is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #98 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 Scott City?
13% of Scott City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1959.
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), 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.
2026
2006
2005
