Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1875.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives St. John’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. John is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. John’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 St. John’s 8.5 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.3 points). Two sources give 1875.
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 St. John’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first settlement in what is today St. John was made in 1875 when William Bickerton of the Church of Jesus Christ founded a religious colony named Zion Valley. By 1879, Zion Valley had grown into a small town, and the residents renamed it St. John, after then governor John P. St. John, in order to gain favor in winning the county seat of Stafford County.
In 2015, due to diligent work of local citizens and former local graduates, the official government listing of locations has been corrected to spell the town correctly as "St. John" instead of "Saint John" that was incorrectly changed by the United States Postal Service in the 1970s.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Another post office, Zion Valley, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Zion Valley
1875–1880
Saint John
1880–today
18701950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about St. John’s history
What year was St. John founded?
In 1875, according to Wikidata. St. John’s post office opened in 1875.
How does St. John rank for history?
St. John is more historic than 72% 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.
What is on the National Register in St. John?
One place: the Gray, William R., Photography Studio and Residence (listed 2013).
How old are the homes in St. John?
45% of St. John’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1944.
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 (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
2010
2005