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History · Coldwater

Coldwater’s post office opened in 1884, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Comache County Courthouse and the Chief Theater. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1890.

1884first post office
2on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Coldwater’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Coldwater began

When was Coldwater founded?

1884

The Coldwater post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 480 in 18902020 census: 687142 years
Founding year: the first Coldwater post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Coldwater’s 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.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Coldwater change.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1923, drew every building in Coldwater.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,296 in 1930; 687 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Coldwater’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewColdwater, Kans: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Coldwater on the map, 1892 to 1985

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

Coldwater on the 1892 USGS mapColdwater on the 1979 USGS mapColdwater on the 1985 USGS map1892Coldwater sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Coldwater.

Every building

Coldwater, building by building, 1886–1923

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.

Coldwater fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Coldwater came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Coldwater.

Read it all →

In 1884 G.W. Vickers conceived the idea of laying out a town in the northern part of Comanche County, in company with Timothy Shields, J. P. Grove, Samuel Sisson, C. M. Cade and C. D. Bickford, all from Harper County. They preempted a section of land, had it platted off as a town site and named it after the city of Coldwater, Michigan. Early the following year the county had the required number of inhabitants, who petitioned the governor for its organization, and on February 27, 1885, it was organized with Owen Connaughton, George M. Morris and David T. Mclntire, commissioners and R. A. Grossman, clerk. Coldwater was designated as the county seat.

The first post office in Coldwater was established on October 17, 1884.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Coldwater, 1884 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Coldwater post office opens
  3. 1887Born hereChick Brandom is born here
  4. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1926In the archiveColdwater, Kans
  7. 1927BuiltComache County Courthouse is built
  8. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 1,296
By decade

Coldwater, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s2 items
Coldwater, Kans1926Coldwater, KansColdwater, Kans1926Coldwater, Kans
1930s–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
Today2 recent
Comanche County Museum2010Comanche County MuseumKSMap-doton-Coldwater2004KSMap-doton-Coldwater
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.

Coldwater, Kans
Retake this viewColdwater, Kans, 1926

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Coldwater

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2002
Comache County Courthouse
Comache County Courthouse, built 1927Chief Theater
Buildings
Comache County CourthouseBuilt 1927
Chief TheaterBuilding

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

People over time

Coldwater, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,296

Peaked at 1,296 in 1930; 687 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Questions about Coldwater’s history

What year was Coldwater founded?

The Coldwater post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Coldwater?

Two places: the Comache County Courthouse (listed 2002) and the Chief Theater (2005).

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 (2), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.