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History · Fulton

Fulton’s post office opened in 1876, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Fulton High School and Grade School. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1880.

1876first post office
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fulton began

When was Fulton founded?

1876

The Fulton post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Osaga (1869), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 263 in 18802020 census: 165150 years
Founding year: the first Fulton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fulton’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 Fulton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 506 in 1890; 165 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fulton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fulton’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
People over time

Fulton, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 506

Peaked at 506 in 1890; 165 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Fulton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fulton.

Read it all →

Fulton was originally known as Osaga, and under the latter name was founded in 1869. It was renamed to Fulton in 1878, after the city of Fulton, Illinois.

A post office was first established under the name Osaga in 1869.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fulton, 1869 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Osaga post office opens
  3. 1876Post officeThe Osaga post office closes
  4. 1876Post officeThe Fulton post office opens
  5. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 506
  6. 20th century
  7. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fulton, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Map of Bourbon Co, Ks, USA2005Map of Bourbon Co, Ks, USAMap
On the map

Fulton on the map, 1958 to 1981

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

Fulton on the 1958 USGS mapFulton on the 1978 USGS mapFulton on the 1981 USGS map1958Prescott 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 Fulton.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Fulton

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
2015
Fulton High School and Grade School
Fulton High School and Grade School
Buildings
Fulton High School and Grade SchoolBuilding

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Fulton’s post office has been open since 1876. Another post office, Osaga, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Osaga
1869–1876
Fulton
1876–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Fulton’s history

What year was Fulton founded?

The Fulton post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Fulton?

One place: the Fulton High School and Grade School (listed 2015).

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 (1), Wikidata (1), 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.