Dodge City’s post office opened in 1872, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns · #51 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 44 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dodge City is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #51 of 151 in Kansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dodge City’s overall grade.
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 Dodge City’s 18.8 sits above most of its state (79% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 52 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Dodge City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dodge City. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Dodge 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 Dodge City.
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Dodge City’s post office has been open since 1872.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Camelot Trailer ParkCountryside Manor Mobile Home ParkEvergreen Trailer CourtHappy Homes ParkPrairie Village Trailer CourtRanchwood Mobile EstatesSleepy Hollow Mobile Home ParkSouth DodgeVilla Manor Trailer CourtWatersports Mobile Home ParkWestward Ho Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Saint Mary of the Plains Collegeschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dodge City
Greencrest Memorial Garden - Maple GroveMaple Grove
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Dodge City, building by building, 1884–1926
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.
1884Sheet 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 first settlement in the area that became Dodge City was Fort Mann, built by civilians in 1847. The fort was built to provide protection for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. Fort Mann collapsed in 1848 after an attack by Natives. In 1850, the U.S. Army arrived to provide protection in the region and constructed Fort Atkinson on the old Fort Mann site. The army abandoned Fort Atkinson in 1853. Military forces on the Santa Fe Trail were re-established farther north and east at Fort Larned in 1859, but the area remained vacant around what would become Dodge City until the end of the Civil War. In April 1865, the American Frontier Wars in the West began heating up, and the army constructed Fort Dodge to assist Fort Larned in providing protection on the Santa Fe Trail. Fort Dodge remained in operation until 1882.
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.
The Dodge City post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Dodge City rank for history?
Dodge City is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #51 of 151 in Kansas. 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 Dodge City?
10 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Mueller-Schmidt House (listed 1972, the first), 1 historic district, the Dodge City Downtown Historic District, with 44 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 52 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Dodge City?
17% of Dodge City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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.
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