The story
Read it all →How Douglas came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Douglas.
Douglas was platted c. 1888. Douglas was the maiden name of the wife of the original owner of the town site.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Douglas
Douglas’ post office opened in 1888, and 48% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 1900.
1888first post office
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Douglas began
When was Douglas founded?
1888
The Douglas post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hendricks (1863), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 253 in 19002020 census: 166138 years
Founding year: the first Douglas post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Douglas’ 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 Douglas are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 305 in 1910; 166 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19034 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1986. Watch Douglas change.Old housesHalf of Douglas’ homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Douglas’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Douglas’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Douglas, census by census
Peaked at 305 in 1910; 166 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Douglas’ Wikipedia page.
On the map
Douglas on the map, 1903 to 1986
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Douglas. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1903Weeping Water sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Douglas.
Timeline
Douglas, 1863 to 1910
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Douglas, decade by decade
Today2 recent
2017
2005Places that used to be
Lost post offices and places now gone
Douglas’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Hendricks, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hendricks
Douglas
18601940today
Gone or out of use
Douglaslocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Douglas’ history
What year was Douglas founded?
The Douglas post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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.