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History · Wheatcroft

Wheatcroft’s post office opened in 1900, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1910.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wheatcroft’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wheatcroft began

When was Wheatcroft founded?

1900

The Wheatcroft post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 490 in 19102020 census: 105126 years
Founding year: the first Wheatcroft post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Wheatcroft’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 705 in 1930; 105 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wheatcroft’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Wheatcroft, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 705

Peaked at 705 in 1930; 105 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Wheatcroft came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wheatcroft.

Read it all →

Wheatcroft was named for Irving Horace Wheatcroft, an Englishman, who in 1899 laid out and founded the city on land acquired from Elijah Cullen. He opened one or more area coal mines, and built the Kentucky Western Railway from nearby Blackford to Dixon. The Wheatcroft post office was established on September 10, 1900, with A.S. Logsdon as postmaster. The city incorporated in 1902.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wheatcroft, 1880 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kentucky (KY) - Webster County - Wheatcroft - ED …
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Wheatcroft post office opens
  5. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 705
By decade

Wheatcroft, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kentucky (KY) - Webster County - Wheatcroft - ED 117-2418801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kentucky (KY)…
1890s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Wheatcroft-post-office-ky2018Wheatcroft-post-office-kyWheatcroft-bridge-ky2018Wheatcroft-bridge-kyWheatcroft-Cat-House-ky2018Wheatcroft-Cat-House-kyWheatcroft-109-Lexington-ky2018Wheatcroft-109-Lexington-kyKYMap-doton-Wheatcroft2004KYMap-doton-Wheatcroft
On the map

Wheatcroft on the map, 1909 to 1954

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

Wheatcroft on the 1909 USGS mapWheatcroft on the 1954 USGS map1909Providence sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Wheatcroft.

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.

1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kentucky (KY) - Webster County - Wheatcroft - ED 117-24
Retake this view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Kentucky (KY) - Webster County - Wheatcroft - ED 117-24, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Wheatcroft’s history

What year was Wheatcroft founded?

The Wheatcroft post office opened in 1900, 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 (6), 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.