Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Washington County Jail and Sheriff's Residence, the Washington County Courthouse and the John F. Wayland House. Its Register listings are the Washington County Jail and Sheriff's Residence, the Washington County Courthouse and the John F. Wayland House. Below: old-book passages.
Washington dates its founding to 1860 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1861.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Washington is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Washington’s 26.0 sits above most of its state (85% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Washington’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Washington.
Washington was established in spring 1860, and in the same year was named the county seat. Until the end of the Civil War, it was protected by two stockaded buildings, the Washington Company House and Woolbert's Stockade Hotel.
The first post office in Washington was established in November 1861.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Washington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the army at the close of the rebellion, he practiced medicine in Tecumseh, Kan., six months and was then stationed in Perdee till 1867. In that year became to Washington C'ount3% which was then on the frontier and had but few inhabitants within its borders. Washington was but the mere nucleus of a town, with its half dozen houses, sixty miles distant from the nearest railway station. The Doctor
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Washington was but a small hamlet, with only one store, a log blacksmith-shop and two frame buildings on the town site. Waterville was the nearest railway station, and the markets were not very accessible. Mr. Albright resided on his farm until 1874, in the meantime making many valuable improvements. In that year he traded it for property in Washington, and has been a resident of this
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In January (1807) the flotilla of Burr had arrived at Bayou Pierre, on the Lower Mississippi, lie was there seized by the order of Cowles Mead, the acting Governor of Mississippi, and conducted to the town of Washington. Burr, shortly after, managed to escape from custody, and a reward of two thousand dollars was offered for his apprehension. In the meantime, several arrests of the supposed accomplices of Burr were made at Fort Adams and New Orleans. Among these were Bollman (the celebrated deliv¬
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltWashington County Courthouse is builtThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Washington’s post office has been open since 1861.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1860, according to Wikidata. Washington’s post office opened in 1861.
Washington is more historic than 79% 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.
Three places: the Washington County Jail and Sheriff's Residence (listed 1996), the Washington County Courthouse (2000) and the John F. Wayland House (2013).
37% of Washington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1951.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.
2005