First Methodist Episcopal Church · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0

–Not graded

History · Stafford

Stafford’s post office opened in 1878, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1890.

1878first post office

4on the National Register

37%homes built before 1940

2old photos & papers

6famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Quick answers

How Stafford began

When was Stafford founded?

1878

The Stafford post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lulu Valley (1877), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 640 in 18902020 census: 959148 years

Founding year: the first Stafford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Stafford’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Stafford change.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,011 in 1940; 959 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Stafford’s homes were built before 1952.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stafford’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewTaft speaking: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Stafford on the map, 1892 to 1985

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

1892Pratt 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 Stafford.

People over time

Stafford, census by census

Peaked at 2,011 in 1940; 959 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Stafford came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stafford.

Read it all →

Stafford was founded in 1878. As with Stafford County, the city was named for Lewis Stafford, a casualty in the Civil War. Stafford was destroyed by a tornado in 1882 and rebuilt within a year. Stafford was incorporated as a city in 1885.

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad depot, built in 1911, was slated to be demolished in late 2016 but was ultimately saved by a last-minute petition from the Stafford community.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Stafford, 1877 to 1995

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

19th century
1877Post officeThe Lulu Valley post office opens
1878Post officeThe Lulu Valley post office closes
1878Post officeThe Stafford post office opens
1892Born hereRoy Sanders is born here
1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1905BuiltFarmers National Bank is built
1908In the archiveTaft speaking
1913BuiltConvenanter Church is built
1917Born hereLou Brock is born here
1918Born hereNorma Wendelburg is born here
1927BuiltFirst Methodist Episcopal Church is built
1940CensusPopulation peaks at 2,011
1958Born hereTony Fields is born here
1995In the archiveWetlands and Wildlife Scenic Byway - JR Carmichael's Tombstone

By decade

Stafford, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item

1908Taft speaking

1910s–1980snothing 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

1990s1 item

Wetlands and Wildlife Scenic Byway - JR Carmichael's Tombstone

1995Wetlands and Wildlife Scenic Byway - JR Carmichael's …

Today1 recent

2005KSMap-doton-Stafford

Every building

Stafford, building by building, 1911–1913

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Stafford fire insurance map, 1911, sheet 1

1911Sheet 1 of 3

Edition

Sheets

+2 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Retake this viewTaft speaking, 1908

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

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

4 historic places in Stafford

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2002

First Methodist Episcopal Church

Buildings

First Methodist Episcopal ChurchBuilt 1927

Convenanter ChurchBuilt 1913

Joseph L. Spickard HouseBuilding

Farmers National BankBuilt 1905

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Stafford

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Roy SandersAmerican baseball player · b. 1892

Lou BrockAmerican football player · b. 1917

Norma WendelburgAmerican musician · b. 1918

Tony FieldsAmerican actor and dancer · b. 1958

Brett FairchildAmerican politician

Kevin SchwertfegerAmerican politician

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Stafford’s post office has been open since 1878. Another post office, Lulu Valley, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lulu Valley

1877–1878

Stafford

1878–today

18701950today

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

Questions about Stafford’s history

What year was Stafford founded?

The Stafford post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Stafford?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the First Methodist Episcopal Church (listed 2002, the first).

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 (2), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.

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