Troy’s post office opened in 1857, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 17 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1875 on and old-book passages.
Troy is part of the St. Joseph, MO–KS Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Troy was platted in 1855. It was named after the ancient city of Troy. The first house in Troy was built in 1856, and the first store opened in 1857. Troy was incorporated as a city in 1860. The first post office in Troy was established in March, 1857.
Troy grew up from humble beginnings along the wagon route from St. Joseph, Missouri to Oregon and California. British explorer Richard Francis Burton en route to California in 1860 noted: "Passing through a few wretched shanties called Troy ..."
Passages that mention Troy, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Doniphan County, Kansas, history and directory for 1868-91868 · page 138Read the page →
Read the text
Landis, Daniel, farmer, Po Doniphan, res 5 m n Doniphan, e s'd Troy and Doniphan r'd, Wayne tp. Landis, 11., farmer, res 3 m s e Troy, Center tp. Landis, John, farmer, Po Troy, res 4 m s e Troy, e s'd Troy and Doniphan r'd, Wayne tp.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Doniphan County, Kansas, history and directory for 1868-91868 · page 288Read the page →
Read the text
the citizens made application to liave the town incorporated, which api>lication was granted, the act giving as an incorporated town all the rights and privileges as a city wnth a Mayor and Council ; this act of incorporation includes East Troy extending the city limits to contain one half section of land. Since the act of incorporation, however, there have been some additions to the city, to wit : llayton's addition and Leland's addition.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Gray's Doniphan County history. A record of the happenings of half a hundred years1905 · page 47Read the page →
Read the text
wood is the terminus of the Elwood & Marysville railroad, which is already graded for many miles. It is expected to be in running order to Troy, twelve miles west, in a feAv months. It is the first railroad built in Kansas."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Troy, 1857 to 1988
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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 (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2006
2004
