Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1900.
Amsterdam dates its founding to 1891 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.
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 Amsterdam’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Amsterdam.
Amsterdam was platted in 1891. The city was named after Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands. Arthur Stilwell, an early-20th-century railroad executive, chose it because the Dutch capital was where the firm of an important railway financier, Jan de Goeijen, was located. A post office has been in operation at Amsterdam since 1892.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Amsterdam, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The town of Amsterdam was laid out by John L. Rankin. September 30, 1891, in the western central part of the township, on the Kansas City & Southern railroad, and is one of the leading business points on that railroad in Bates county. It has a bank, a newspaper, and all the industries and commercial establishments to be found in towns of its class.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first school building in Amsterdam was erected in 1895. It was a two-room brick building. The first principal was H. O. Maxey, who took charge of the school at the beginning of the fall term in 1895. He continued in this position until the spring of 1904, when he moved to Butler to become county superintendent of schools.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings 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 Amsterdam. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Amsterdam.
Between 118 and 281 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Amsterdam’s Wikipedia page.
Amsterdam’s post office has been open since 1892. Another post office, Burrows, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1891, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Amsterdam’s post office opened in 1891, and the census of 1900 counted 142 people here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, 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 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.
