Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1939 on and the census since 1900.
The Staplehurst post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1879.
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 Staplehurst’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Staplehurst.
Staplehurst was established in 1879 when the railroad was extended to that point. A family of early settlers being natives of Staplehurst, England, caused the name to be selected.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Staplehurst, cut from the printed page as they were published.
needed timber of spontaneous growth along their banks. It had a post office and trading place at Marysville early in pioneer days. It has a railway station and market at the enterprising village of Staplehurst. -Dprecinct is located, as will be noticed in the diagram, in the north-west corner of the county. It is mostly up-land from the North Blue river and Lincoln creek. In regard to the quality of the land we can say that it needs no recom-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the stimulus of a new road and the promise of better freight rates. Milford sprang forward with a bound, being awakened from her stupor by the sound of the locomotive whistle The new town of Staplehurst was founded and also Pleasant Dale, and all was going merry as a marriage bell until the spring of 1880, when calamities came thick and fast upon us. The winter had been a dry one and the earth had become a bed of dust. The freezing and thawing of the fields
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
is no swampy land, and none that can not be cultivated. It is covered with beautiful farms. It has between six and seven jniles of railroad with one good shipping point. Much of it is near Staplehurst, and all parts of it are very handy to the city. It has six school houses with two hundred thirtyeight pupils enrolled. It has about twelve hundred people.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Staplehurst was founded by George C McKay in the autumn of 1879, immediately after the completion of the A. & X. R. R. Mr. McKay erected the first dwelling. T. W. Lowrey opened a grain house the same fall. Staplehurst grew slowly at first, but in 1882-83 it began to assume importance as a shipping and trading point.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Staplehurst. 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 Staplehurst.
Between 211 and 306 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Staplehurst’s Wikipedia page.
The Staplehurst post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1879.
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 (4), 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.
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