[4][3] In exchange for extensive Delaware holdings in the state of Indiana, on September 24, 1829, the United States government ceded a large tract of land to the Delaware Indians.

On July 4, 1866, the Secretary of the Interior of the United States was offered for sale what was left of the Delaware lands, then referred to as the Delaware Diminished Reserve, for not less than $2.50 per acre.

The Leavenworth, Pawnee, and Western Railroad Company subsequently bought all of the remaining land on January 7, 1886.

The first individuals to own the land upon which Basehor now stands were Thomas Salem and Mary Z. Towne (though William Henery Lewis, who surveyed for the railroad, bought an extensive plot of land to the northeast of Basehor around 1861 and homesteaded it right after the Civil War).

The couple bought it from the railroad in 1873 and mortgaged it to Ephraim Basehor the same year.

Ephriam and Reuben's nephew William Mast later moved to Basehor and in 1896 married Margaret Towne, the daughter of the couple from whom they had purchased the land.

After living in Lawrence for a time, Ephraim began working as a hired hand for an area farmer.

In 1889, the railroad was completed, and Ephraim plotted his land and began building the town site.

The old grade school was located north of town and was originally called the Prairie Garden District #32.

The first high school classes in the community met in 1905 above the Kemler-Hammond General Store.

After many years of disuse, the library building was moved to the city park in June, 2016.

[6] A new two-story brick high school was built as a WPA project in 1938.

The grade-school classes continued to be held in the old building until a new grade school was built in 1955.

[7] The 2020 United States census counted 6,896 people, 2,531 households, and 1,968 families in Basehor.

18.8% of households consisted of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The median age in the city was 37.6 years; 26.5% of residents were under 18; 6% were between 18 and 24; 28.4% were from 25 to 44; 27% were from 45 to 64; and 12.2% were 65 or older.