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Rawlin Co KS CourthousePhoto: Smallbones · Public domain
B+History
History · Atwood

Atwood dates to 1875, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Shirley Opera House. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1890.

1875founded
1on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Atwood began

When was Atwood founded?

1875

Atwood dates its founding to 1875 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 450 in 18902020 census: 1,290151 years

How historic is Atwood?

B+

More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1879.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Atwood’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Atwood is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Atwood’s overall grade.
Founding era1875, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194031.4% of homes (±6.6) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 7.6 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 66%
NewerOlder

Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Atwood’s 7.6 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.6 points). Two sources give 1875.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Atwood’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Atwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,906 in 1960; 1,290 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Atwood’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Atwood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Atwood, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,906

Peaked at 1,906 in 1960; 1,290 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Atwood’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Atwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Atwood.

Read it all →

In 1875, T.A. Andrews and J.M. Matheny traveled to Rawlins County and started a town site about two miles east of the current city. The city of Attwood (with two t's) was named after Attwood Matheny, the 14-year-old son who accompanied his father on the journey. In 1882, the U.S. Post Office requested permission to drop one "t" thus becoming Atwood. In 1881, Atwood became the county seat of Rawlins County.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Atwood, 1875 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875
    FoundingAtwood is established
  3. 1879Post officeThe Attwood post office opens
  4. 1881Post officeThe Attwood post office closes
  5. 1881Post officeThe Atwood post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1907BuiltShirley Opera House is built
  8. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,906
  10. 1963Born hereMike Argabright is born here
By decade

Atwood, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Lake Park 13812022Lake Park 1381Lake Park 13802022Lake Park 1380Lake Park 13792022Lake Park 1379Frontier in Rawlins 13782022Frontier in Rawlins 1378Atwood, Kansas Main Street 500 block N side 12014Atwood, Kansas Main Street 500 block N side 1Atwood, Kansas2013Atwood, KansasRawlin Co KS Courthouse2010Rawlin Co KS Courthouse
On the map

Atwood on the map, 1951 to 1978

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

Atwood on the 1951 USGS mapAtwood on the 1978 USGS map1951Atwood 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 Atwood.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Atwood

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Shirley Opera House
Shirley Opera House, built 1907
Buildings
Shirley Opera HouseBuilt 1907

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Atwood’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, Attwood, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Attwood
1879–1881
Atwood
1881–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
North Atwood

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

Questions about Atwood’s history

What year was Atwood founded?

In 1875, according to Wikidata. Atwood’s post office opened in 1879, and the census of 1890 counted 450 people here.

How does Atwood rank for history?

Atwood is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Atwood?

One place: the Shirley Opera House (listed 2007).

How old are the homes in Atwood?

31% of Atwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1960.

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).

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) 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.