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History · Richland

Richland’s post office opened in 1840, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Richland was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1880.

1840first post office
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Richland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Richland began

When was Richland founded?

1840

The Richland post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 223 in 18802020 census: 946186 years
Founding year: the first Richland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Richland’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1970 and 1990, then more than doubled.On the map since 19186 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1985. Watch Richland change.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of Richland.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Richland’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewKedzie House: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Richland, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020728 in 1970Low: 465

Lost a third of its people between 1970 and 1990, then more than doubled.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Richland on the map, 1918 to 1985

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

Richland on the 1918 USGS mapRichland on the 1947 USGS mapRichland on the 1950 USGS mapRichland on the 1961 USGS mapRichland on the 1972 USGS mapRichland on the 1985 USGS map1918Galesburg sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Richland.

The story

How Richland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Richland.

Read it all →

Richland is located in the middle of what was once the Gull Prairie, an upland area relatively free of trees and maintained by natural and man-made fires. The area had a few Pottawatamie villages, one was located on the west side of nearby Gull Lake. Fish and game were plentiful, and the land was very fertile. Since there were few trees to clear, the prairie was among the first areas of Kalamazoo County to be settled. By the 1830s, the Native Americans had been forced west, and Richland was a thriving frontier village. The village even contended with Prairie Ronde for the county seat, but the centrally located village of Bronson (now Kalamazoo) was ultimately chosen.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Richland, 1907 to 2020

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907In the archiveKedzie House
  3. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 21st century
  5. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 946
By decade

Richland, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Kedzie House1907Kedzie House
1910s–1990snothing 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
Today6 recent
Circle K - N. 32nd Street2021Circle K - N. 32nd StreetRichland (1)2019Richland (1)Untitled photo2019Untitled photoFirst Presbyterian Church Historical Marker (1)2019First Presbyterian Church Historical Marker (1)Community Library Historical Marker2019Community Library Historical MarkerRichland Community Library2017Richland Community Library
Every building

Richland, building by building, 1895–1918

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.

Richland fire insurance map, 1895, sheet 11895Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
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.

Kedzie House
Retake this viewKedzie House, 1907

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 67 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
67
each building in a district counts

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Richland

Nobody well known was born in Richland itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
E
Ed GaleAmerican actor · b. 1963
Jack ConklinAmerican football player · b. 1994
William Rufus ShafterUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1835
B
Bob SimsAmerican basketball player · b. 1915
W
William T. BovieAmerican scientist and inventor · b. 1882
F
Fay-Cooper ColeAmerican anthropologist · b. 1881

Questions about Richland’s history

What year was Richland founded?

The Richland post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (7), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.