Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) an out-of-the-way or small place; thus dogtowner, a native of such a town.

1838		Columbia Democrat (Bloomsburg, PA) 31 Mar. 4/2: Dogtowen has suffered a complete downfall [...] The Dogtowners are poor enough at present.
1853		F. Durivage Life Scenes 41: The entire population of Dogtown and Hardscrabble turned out to witness the stupendous military operations.
1870		‘The Bull-Whacker’s Epic’ in J.H. Beadle Life in Utah 227: The prairie dogs in Dog-town, and the prickly pears, / And the buffalo bones that are scattered everywheres.
1882		Vancouver Indep. (WA) 14 Dec. 1/1: The little place known as Dogtown, situated about twenty miles from this place.
1939		W. Winchell On Broadway 3 Oct. [synd. col.] Geo. Kaufman and Moss Hart, say reports from the dogtowns, have a winner in ‘The Man Who Came to Dinner.’.
1965		T.B. Haber ‘Canine Terms Applied to Human Beings’ in AS XL:2 96: dog town. A derisive name for a small town.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 122: Any small (or hick) town, presumed to have more dogs than people and to be on the squalid side.

2. a rundown, impoverished and poss. criminal area of a town.

1897		Paducah Dly Sun (KY) 21 Dec. 4/2: Mrs Acres of ‘Dogtown’ is very ill on a shanty boat near the foot of Second street.
1902		Paducah Sun (KY) 30 July 3/1: Dogtown must go [...] Dogtown has for years been the habitation of the most indigent and criminal classes.
1912		Bismarck Dly Tribune (Dakota, ND) 29 Mar. 5/4: This has caused the water to back up over [...] the syndicate and ‘Dogtown’.