Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the First Commercial Bank. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1900.
The Odell post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Charleston (1877), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Odell’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Odell.
Before the southwest corner of Gage County was home to Odell, it was part of the 10-by-25-mile (16 by 40 km) Otoe Indian Reservation.
Odell was laid out in 1880 when the railroad was extended to that point. The community was named after LeGrand Odell, an original owner of the town site.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 472 in 1930; 260 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Odell’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Odell, cut from the printed page as they were published.
of eight hundred and sixty acres, — in Elm, Glenwood and Paddock townships. In July, 1911, he removed from his farm to the village of Odell. He bought land adjoining the town and has here platted and developed an attractive addition to the village, the same being known as Hiatt's addition and having proved a distinct gain to Odell, as well as an evidence
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
braska, and Hanover, Washington and other Kansas towns. It was the first village founded on the old Otoe and Missouri Indian reserva-' tion. Prior to the founding of Odell, William B. LaGorgue had surveyed and platted a townsite on his farm, on the south side of Big Indian creek, a mile or so from Odell, and christened it Charleston. A start had been
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.
Born hereClair Armstrong Callan is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Odell. 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 Odell.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The 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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Odell’s post office has been open since 1880. Another post office, Charleston, 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).
The Odell post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the First Commercial Bank (listed 2007).
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 Wikimedia Commons (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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