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Hallett Post Office 7-2026Photo: TulGuy · CC BY 4.0
–Not graded
History · Hallett

Hallett dates to 1904, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1911 on and the census since 1910.

1904founded
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
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Photo: TulGuy · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Hallett began

When was Hallett founded?

1904

Hallett dates its founding to 1904 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 147 in 19102020 census: 105122 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1905.The full story ↓

What stands out about Hallett’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 Hallett are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 279 in 1920; 105 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hallett’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hallett’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

Hallett, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 279

Peaked at 279 in 1920; 105 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Hallett came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hallett.

Read it all →

The town of Hallett was founded on December 8, 1904, at the junction of the Arkansas Valley and Western Railway (later the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway) and the Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad (later the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway). The developer, Hallett Townsite Company, was named for Charles H. Hallett, an officer in the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry. A post office was established in the town on May 19, 1905, and the first newspaper, the weekly Hallett Herald was published.

Hallett became a trade center for the local agriculture industry. The discovery of Hallett oil field brought a brief boom in 1908 and again in the 1920s. Population peaked at 279 in 1920, then declined to a low of 120 in 1950.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hallett, 1904 to 1929

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904
    FoundingHallett is established
  3. 1905Post officeThe Hallett post office opens
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 279
  5. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hallett, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Hallett Post Office 7-20262026Hallett Post Office 7-2026
On the map

Hallett on the map, 1929 to 1978

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

Hallett on the 1929 USGS mapHallett on the 1932 USGS mapHallett on the 1978 USGS map1929Yale 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 Hallett.

Every building

Hallett, building by building, 1911

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Hallett fire insurance map, 1911, sheet 11911Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Questions about Hallett’s history

What year was Hallett founded?

In 1904, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hallett’s post office opened in 1905, and the census of 1910 counted 147 people here.

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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.