Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Fort Dodge

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Fort Dodge

Fort Dodge’s post office opened in 1865, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Fort Dodge was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: 12 old photos and papers and maps from 1892 on.

1865first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fort Dodge’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fort Dodge began

When was Fort Dodge founded?

1865

The Fort Dodge post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 97161 years
Founding year: the first Fort Dodge post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fort Dodge’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 18924 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Fort Dodge change.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · On the map

Fort Dodge on the map, 1892 to 1985

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

Fort Dodge on the 1892 USGS mapFort Dodge on the 1969 USGS mapFort Dodge on the 1978 USGS mapFort Dodge on the 1985 USGS map1892Spearville 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 Fort Dodge.

By decade

Fort Dodge, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s7 items
Harper's Weekly, 1867 - Interior of1867Harper's Weekly, 1867 - Interior ofSutler's store at Fort Dodge, Kansas - sketched by Theodore R. Davis1867Sutler's store at Fort Dodge, Kansas - sketched by Th…Sutler's store at Fort Dodge, Kansas1867Sutler's store at Fort Dodge, KansasGeneral George Armstrong Custer with Osage Scouts, in Front of a Tipi Tent1868General George Armstrong Custer with Osage Scouts, in…General George Armstrong Custer with Osage Scouts, in Front of a Tipi Tent1868General George Armstrong Custer with Osage Scouts, in…Scalped on the plains incidents in Mormon history1868Scalped on the plains incidents in Mormon historySoule, Will - Von Indianern skalpierter Jäger nahe Fort Dodge, Kansas (Zeno Fotografie)1869Soule, Will - Von Indianern skalpierter Jäger nahe Fo…
1870s5 items
Arapaho camp with buffalo meat drying near1870Arapaho camp with buffalo meat drying nearArapaho camp with buffalo meat drying near1870Arapaho camp with buffalo meat drying nearMap of Roads from Fort Dodge, Kansas to Camp Supply, Indian Territory1872Map of Roads from Fort Dodge, Kansas to Camp Supply, …MapMilitary Reservation of1876Military Reservation ofPlan of1876Plan ofMap
Today1 recent
Sante Fe Trail Marker, near Coronado's Cross2019Sante Fe Trail Marker, near Coronado's Cross
The story

How Fort Dodge came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fort Dodge.

Read it all →

From 1865 to 1882, Fort Dodge was an outpost on the Santa Fe Trail. After the fort closed, the site became the Kansas Soldiers' Home in 1890.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fort Dodge, 1867 to 1892

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867In the archiveHarper's Weekly, 1867 - Interior of
  3. 1870In the archiveArapaho camp with buffalo meat drying near
  4. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

Harper's Weekly, 1867 - Interior of
Retake this viewHarper's Weekly, 1867 - Interior of, 1867

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Fort Dodge

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

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Fort Dodge

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

See all →
Dennis HopperAmerican actor and film director · b. 1936
David A. R. WhiteAmerican actor · b. 1970
Bill MillerAmerican athlete who competed mainly in the pol… · b. 1912
J
James KingAmerican operatic tenor · b. 1925
David RickenCatholic bishop · b. 1952
Fred HallAmerican politician in Kansas · b. 1916
Help out

Finish Fort Dodge’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHarper's Weekly, 1867 - Interior of: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Wilroads GardensIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrandview Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEnterprise TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Fort Dodge’s history

What year was Fort Dodge founded?

The Fort Dodge post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (11), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.