Places

1911 Ford County

1895 Rand McNally Atlas

Kansas Dept. of Transportation

Populated Places

 

Cities, Communities, and Townships in Ford County

Bellefont
Bloom
Bucklin
Concord
Dodge City

Located in southwest Kansas, legendary Dodge City sits on the banks of the Arkansas River and atop the world's largest underground water table, the Ogallala Aquifer. The surrounding Red Hills are a source of bountiful wildlife. Fort Dodge was built in 1865 to protect the wagon trains and U.S. mail and supply troops for the Indian Wars.
The 'Wickedest Little City in the West' was officially born in 1872, growing up around the sod home of a local cattle rancher. Dodge City was a major stop along the historic Santa Fe Trail, the great wagon train and trade route between Franklin, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico used until 1880. This prairie town was also the buffalo capital of the U.S. for three years until massive slaughters wiped out the herds. For a decade ending in the mid-1880's the town was a major destination of cattle drives. With so many drifters, buffalo hunters, ex-soldiers and gunslingers converging on the town, Dodge City became legendary for its lawlessness. With a population of only 1,200 in 1876, Dodge boasted 19 liquor serving establishments! Famous Kansas peacekeepers did make it into town eventually, including Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp, bringing the long arm of the law and plenty of fodder for old western stories of glory. Today Dodge City thrives with a tourism based on the mystique of the cowboy and the legends of the Old West.
(Above) Dodge City, Kansas, in 1872

Enterprise
Fairview
Ford
Fort Dodge
Grandview
Howell
Kingsdown
Richland
Royal
Sayre
Sodville
South Dodge
Spearville
Wheatland
Wilburn
Wilroads
Wilroads Gardens
Windhorst
Wright

 

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