[1] The county was named in honor of James Ford, a brevet brigadier general during the American Civil War.

[3] One of the earliest military posts in Kansas, Fort Atkinson, was located in Ford County.

[4] The region had been frequently traveled by pioneers along the Santa Fe Trail since the early 19th century.

[5] The town of Dodge City was established in 1872 upon the completion of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.

Dodge City would later develop into a rough and tumble cowtown during the peak cattle drive years of 1875–1885.

[16] † means a community is designated a Census-Designated Place (CDP) by the United States Census Bureau.

Numerous figures of the American Old West lived in Dodge City during its period as a frontier cowtown.

These included, most notably, lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, and gunfighter Doc Holliday.