Valley Center’s post office opened in 1872, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #78 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
Most of Valley Center was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1941 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Valley Center post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1885.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Valley Center’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Valley Center is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #78 of 151 in Kansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Valley Center’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 Valley Center’s 8.1 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1885 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Valley Center’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Valley Center was incorporated on September 29, 1885, and was named for its location in the valley of the Arkansas River.
The former Valley Center rail depot for Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company and the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company was moved to south of Hillsboro at the southeastern corner of Indigo Rd and 140th Street and is currently a private residence.
On the morning of July 17, 2007, a large explosion occurred at the Barton Solvents chemical plant in Valley Center, destroying the plant and forcing the temporary evacuation of the city. Cleanup began several weeks later, and the investigation was completed by mid-August.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Valley Center. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1941Valley Center sheet · 1:31,680
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Valley Center.
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 viewValley Center, KS - June 9, 1909, 1909
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Valley Center’s page.
The Valley Center post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1885.
How does Valley Center rank for history?
Valley Center is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #78 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.
What is on the National Register in Valley Center?
One place: the Dawson Farmstead (listed 2024).
How old are the homes in Valley Center?
7% of Valley Center’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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