One of the directors of the Town Company, a man by the name of Robert M. Adjacent to the railroad tracks, hastily built frame buildings and tents sprang up, housing two grocery and general merchandise stores, a dance hall, a restaurant, a barbershop, and a blacksmith shop.
In September 1872, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad arrived in Dodge City, initiating tremendous growth for many years. At first, the settlement was named Buffalo City until they learned there was already a town by that name, so it was changed to Dodge City after the fort. On August 15, 1872, a group of businessmen from Forts Dodge, Riley, and Leavenworth, Kansas, organized the Dodge City Town Company and began planning and developing the townsite.
Hoover would join Sitler, building Dodge City’s first business, a saloon built of sod and boards.
