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History · Farnsworth

Farnsworth’s post office opened in 1920, and 100% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1973 on.

1920first post office
0on the National Register
100%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Farnsworth began

When was Farnsworth founded?

1920

The Farnsworth post office opened in 1920, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 95106 years
Founding year: the first Farnsworth post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Farnsworth’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Farnsworth’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 Farnsworth came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Farnsworth.

Read it all →

Founded in 1919 along the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway, Farnsworth was not the first community in the area: the coming of ranchers in the 1880s had led to the establishment of a nearby community named Olds. The locality changed names several times: starting at Olds, it became Nogal with the establishment of a post office in 1905, changed to Rogerstown in 1906, and finally concluded in 1920 with the opening of a post office at the current site. From the beginning, the community has borne the name of Farnsworth, given in honor of Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway director H. W. Farnsworth.

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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Farnsworth on the map, 1973 to 1986

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

Farnsworth on the 1973 USGS mapFarnsworth on the 1986 USGS map1973Farnsworth 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 Farnsworth.

Famous people

Famous people close to Farnsworth

Nobody well known was born in Farnsworth itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Rex LinnAmerican actor · b. 1956
Mike HargroveAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1949
L
Lou RichardsAmerican actor · b. 1951
Caleb CampbellAmerican football player · b. 1984
Keith FlowersAmerican football player · b. 1930
Ryan CulwellAmerican musician · b. 1980

Questions about Farnsworth’s history

What year was Farnsworth founded?

The Farnsworth post office opened in 1920, 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, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.