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History · Fontana

Fontana’s post office opened in 1873, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1880.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fontana began

When was Fontana founded?

1873

The Fontana post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1889. Two smaller post offices, Osage (1864) and Fontania (1869), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 174 in 18802020 census: 210153 years
Founding year: the first Fontana post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1889.The full story ↓

What stands out about Fontana’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 Fontana are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Fontana.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fontana’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Fontana’s post office has been open since 1873. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Osage
1864–1869
Fontania
1869–1873
Fontana
1873–today
18601940today

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

The story

How Fontana came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fontana.

Read it all →

Captain David Martin, a veteran of the War of 1812, received a land grant for 160 acres (0.65 km2) in Lykins County, Kansas (Miami County, Kansas) due to an 1855 congressional act. Part of this property would eventually become the townsite and rural community of Fontana. J.B. Grinnell purchased 120 acres (0.49 km2) of the property in 1869, and put Fontana in the center near a railroad right of way. The city was incorporated in 1889.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Fontana in 1921

Passages that mention Fontana, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Dalton, four years later. Shortly afterward the young couple went to Canada, where Mr. Dalton followed contract mining about fifteen years. Then they moved to Michigan, coming to Kansas almost fifty years ago. They located on the homestead in the Irish settlement near Fontana, which has been the fa…
A centenary of Catholicity in Kansas, 1822-19221921 · page 82Read the page →
Read the text

Dalton, four years later. Shortly afterward the young couple went to Canada, where Mr. Dalton followed contract mining about fifteen years. Then they moved to Michigan, coming to Kansas almost fifty years ago. They located on the homestead in the Irish settlement near Fontana, which has been the family home ever since. It was the center of hospitality in the neighborhood, and it was the warm Irish heart and cheerfulness of Mrs. Dalton that made it such a popular spot.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Fontana, 1864 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864Post officeThe Osage post office opens
  3. 1869Post officeThe Osage post office closes
  4. 1869Post officeThe Fontania post office opens
  5. 1873Post officeThe Fontania post office closes
  6. 1873Post officeThe Fontana post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fontana, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Fontana City Hall 20112011Fontana City Hall 2011Fontana Park2008Fontana ParkFontana City Hall2008Fontana City HallKSMap-doton-Fontana2004KSMap-doton-Fontana
On the map

Fontana on the map, 1958 to 1981

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

Fontana on the 1958 USGS mapFontana on the 1978 USGS mapFontana on the 1981 USGS map1958Fontana 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 Fontana.

People over time

Fontana, census by census

010020018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 256

Between 131 and 256 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Fontana

Nobody well known was born in Fontana itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
B
B. H. BornAmerican basketball player · b. 1932
Fred S. JacksonAmerican politician · b. 1868
Lafayette RussellAmerican football player and actor · b. 1905
Lynn DickeyAmerican football player · b. 1949
Brody EldridgePlayer of American football · b. 1987
Earl Eugene O'ConnorUnited States federal judge · b. 1922

Questions about Fontana’s history

What year was Fontana founded?

The Fontana post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1889.

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), Wikipedia, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.