Buffalo’s post office opened in 1879, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #6 of 28 in Wyoming. What drives it
11 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 23 buildings between them. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Buffalo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Buffalo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Buffalo is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #6 of 28 in Wyoming. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Buffalo’s overall grade.
Wyoming towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wyoming town has 25.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Buffalo’s 96.2 sits above most of its state (84% of Wyoming towns have fewer) while its 44 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Buffalo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew 6-fold.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Buffalo’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Buffalo, building by building, 1896–1920
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 year, then a sheet.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The story so far
Buffalo, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Buffalo yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Buffalo is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 4,415 at the 2020 census, down from 4,585 at the 2010 census. The city had experienced an economic boom due to methane production from the coal bed methane extraction method used in the Powder River Basin and surrounding areas. With the decline of methane production, Buffalo's population has stabilized since the 2010 Census. Even though energy is a vital part of its economy, agriculture, tourism, and recreation are three other major components. Buffalo is located at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains. The city is located almost equidistant between Yellowstone National Park and Mount Rushmor…
Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,585 to 4,415 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Buffalo, 1879 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Hepp Pit MinemineSoldiers and Sailors Pit Number Threemine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Buffalo
Fort McKinney PostSaint Luke's Columbarium
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Buffalo’s history
What year was Buffalo founded?
The Buffalo post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Buffalo rank for history?
Buffalo is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #6 of 28 in Wyoming. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Buffalo?
11 listings: 8 buildings, 2 historic districts, the Main Street Historic District and the Fort McKinney, with 23 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 44 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Buffalo?
19% of Buffalo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Wyoming town; the median home was built in 1974.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (15), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (11), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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