On October 11, 1902, Ambrose A. Plotner and John W. Stoddard purchased a tract of land known as the Kemp pasture. They formed the Colonial Land Company, which founded Wadsworth – named for William Wadsworth, an early settler in the area. The community became a stop on the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad and a post office was established in 1907. The population was estimated at 150 in 1914. That figure had risen to nearly 925 in 1925. By the 1930s, Wadsworth had its own school district.
The community went into decline and by 1940, the population had fallen to 400. Wadsworth's school was consolidated with Bay City in 1949. In 1990, approximately 152 people lived in Wadsworth. By 2000, that number had risen slightly to 160.
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, 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.
