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History · Fort Thomas

Fort Thomas’ post office opened in 1883

Most of Fort Thomas was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2007. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1960 on.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fort Thomas’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fort Thomas began

When was Fort Thomas founded?

1883

The Fort Thomas post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Maxey (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 319143 years
Founding year: the first Fort Thomas post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fort Thomas’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fort Thomas’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewFort Thomas Arizona Picnic 1886: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Fort Thomas came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fort Thomas.

Read it all →

The earliest military presence in the area was former Camp Goodwin, constructed in 1864 and named for Arizona's first territorial governor, John N. Goodwin. The camp was abandoned after a short time due to failed buildings and malaria from a nearby spring. In 1876, the current site of the community was chosen as a "new post on the Gila," selected to replace Camp Goodwin during the Apache Wars. Initially, the site was named Camp Thomas in honor of Civil War Major General George Henry Thomas. Until 1882 the area would be known by several names including Clantonville, Camp Thomas, Maxey and finally Fort Thomas.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fort Thomas, 1881 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Born hereJack Ganzhorn is born here
  3. 1883Post officeThe Fort Thomas post office opens
  4. 1886In the archiveFort Thomas Arizona Picnic 1886
  5. 1886Post officeThe Maxey post office opens
  6. 1887Post officeThe Maxey post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fort Thomas, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
Fort Thomas Arizona Picnic 18861886Fort Thomas Arizona Picnic 1886
1890s–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
Date unknown1 to date
"Officers and guests lunch under giant cactus near Fort Thomas, Arizona." February 18, 1886Date?"Officers and guests lunch under giant cactus near Fo…
Today2 recent
Fort Thomas-Southern Pacific Railroad Depot ruins-18642019Fort Thomas-Southern Pacific Railroad Depot ruins-1864Fort Thomas-1864-12019Fort Thomas-1864-1
On the map

Fort Thomas on the map, 1960 to 1989

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

Fort Thomas on the 1960 USGS mapFort Thomas on the 1989 USGS map1960Fort Thomas 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 Fort Thomas.

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.

Fort Thomas Arizona Picnic 1886
Retake this viewFort Thomas Arizona Picnic 1886, 1886

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Fort Thomas’s post office has been open since 1883. Another post office, Maxey, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fort Thomas
1883–today
Maxey
1886–1887
18801950today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fort Thomas
Fort ThomasOld Fort Thomas

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Fort Thomas’ history

What year was Fort Thomas founded?

The Fort Thomas post office opened in 1883, 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 (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.