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History · Dighton

Dighton’s post office opened in 1879, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Lane County Community High School. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1974 on, and the census since 1890.

1879first post office
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Dighton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Dighton began

When was Dighton founded?

1879

The Dighton post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 304 in 18902020 census: 960147 years
Founding year: the first Dighton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dighton’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,540 in 1970; 960 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Dighton’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dighton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dighton’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 viewDighton, Kansas: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Dighton, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,540

Peaked at 1,540 in 1970; 960 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Dighton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dighton.

Read it all →

The Homestead Act of 1862 offered 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land in the American West, previously owned by railroads, to homesteaders who could live on the land for five years. Drawn west by the promise of free, fertile land, pioneer settlers arrived in Kansas starting in 1869. In 1879, W.A. Watson arrived at the town site, and a post office was established. In 1885, there were three houses and seven voters in town. Lane County became a county in 1886, with Dighton as its county seat. By 1900, the population was 194, and by 1910 it had grown to 370, and the town had banks; a flour mill; a grain elevator; two newspapers; public schools; a hotel; merchants; Baptist, Catholic, and Methodist churches; telegraph service; a band and telephones.

Chapters19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dighton, 1879 to 1981

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Dighton post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archiveDighton, Kansas
  5. 1936BuiltLane County Community High School is built
  6. 1947Born hereDon Hineman is born here
  7. 1957Born hereLinda Gallagher is born here
  8. 1961Born hereDale Walters is born here
  9. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 1,540
  10. 1974On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1981Born hereRicky Lee Neely is born here
By decade

Dighton, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Dighton, Kansasc. 1900Dighton, Kansas
1910s–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
Today3 recent
Old school bus in2026Old school bus inOld school bus in Dighton KS cropped2026Old school bus in Dighton KS croppedDighton, KS2025Dighton, KS
On the map

Dighton on the map, 1974 to 1985

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

Dighton on the 1974 USGS mapDighton on the 1985 USGS map1974Dighton sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Dighton, Kansas
Retake this viewDighton, Kansas, c. 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Dighton

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
2005
Lane County Community High School
Lane County Community High School, built 1936
Buildings
Lane County Community High SchoolBuilt 1936

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Dighton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Ricky Lee NeelyKorean-American model and actor · b. 1981
D
Don HinemanAmerican politician · b. 1947
L
Linda GallagherAmerican politician · b. 1957
D
Dale WaltersAmerican football player · b. 1961

Questions about Dighton’s history

What year was Dighton founded?

The Dighton post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Dighton?

One place: the Lane County Community High School (listed 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 (4), 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.