Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1910.
The Zwingle post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
Zwingle was named for Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Zwingle’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Zwingle. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Zwingle.
Peaked at 145 in 1930; 84 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Zwingle’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Zwingle.
Zwingle was originally built up chiefly by settlers from Pennsylvania. It was named for Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli. It was near Zwingle that South Dakota Governor George S. Mickelson and seven others died in a plane crash in 1993.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Zwingle itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Zwingle’s post office has been open since 1856.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Zwingle post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
