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History · Fountain

Fountain’s post office opened in 1882, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1931 on and the census since 1920.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Fountain began

When was Fountain founded?

1882

The Fountain post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 222 in 19202020 census: 170144 years
Founding year: the first Fountain post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fountain’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 Fountain are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fountain’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fountain’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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The story

How Fountain came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fountain.

Read it all →

Fountain was founded in 1882 when the railroad was extended to that point. The village was so named on account of there being a spring near the original town site. The village was incorporated in 1913.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Fountain on the map, 1931 to 1987

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

Fountain on the 1931 USGS mapFountain on the 1957 USGS mapFountain on the 1987 USGS map1931Freesoil SW sheet · 1:31,680

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

People over time

Fountain, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 247

Between 156 and 247 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Questions about Fountain’s history

What year was Fountain founded?

The Fountain post office opened in 1882, 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 →
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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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.