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History · Dunlap

Dunlap’s post office opened in 1874, and 100% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Dunlap Colored Cemetery. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1880.

1874first post office
1on the National Register
100%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Dunlap began

When was Dunlap founded?

1874

The Dunlap post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1878. Another post office, Hillsborough (1874), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 247 in 18802020 census: 27152 years
Founding year: the first Dunlap post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1878.The full story ↓

What stands out about Dunlap’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 Dunlap are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18854 editions of the USGS map, 1885 to 1985. Watch Dunlap change.Old housesHalf of Dunlap’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 408 in 1890; 27 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dunlap’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dunlap’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
On the map

Dunlap on the map, 1885 to 1985

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

Dunlap on the 1885 USGS mapDunlap on the 1894 USGS mapDunlap on the 1972 USGS mapDunlap on the 1985 USGS map1885Eskridge 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 Dunlap.

The story

How Dunlap came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dunlap.

Read it all →

On March 19, 1874, a post office was established in Hillsborough, Kansas. It was later reestablished on April 20 of the same year as Dunlap, Kansas. This was named after an Indian agent representing the Kanza tribe named Joseph Gage Dunlap who had founded the town in 1869 once the Kanza tribe had migrated to Oklahoma. The town grew slowly after its founding. The town really started to take off when former slave Benjamin "Pap" Singleton came to town in the spring of 1878. Here he formed Singleton's Colony, which consisted of 200 black families. Between 1877 and 1879, hundreds followed Singleton to Kansas. These people are known as Exodusters.

ChaptersDunlap Colored Cemetery

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dunlap, 1874 to 1988

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Dunlap post office opens
  3. 1874Post officeThe Hillsborough post office opens
  4. 1874Post officeThe Hillsborough post office closes
  5. 1885On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 408
  7. 20th century
  8. 1988Post officeThe Dunlap post office closes
By decade

Dunlap, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Dunlap Gymnasium2019Dunlap GymnasiumDunlap Colored Cemetery2019Dunlap Colored CemeteryDetailed map of2010Detailed map ofMapKSMap-doton-Dunlap2004KSMap-doton-Dunlap
On the National Register

1 historic place in Dunlap

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
2018
Dunlap Colored Cemetery
Sites
Dunlap Colored CemeterySite

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

People over time

Dunlap, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 408

Peaked at 408 in 1890; 27 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Dunlap had its own post office from 1874 to 1988. Another post office, Hillsborough, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dunlap
1874–1988
Hillsborough
1874–1874
18701950today

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

Questions about Dunlap’s history

What year was Dunlap founded?

The Dunlap post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1878.

What is on the National Register in Dunlap?

One place: the Dunlap Colored Cemetery (listed 2018).

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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.