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History · Cannon Ball

Cannon Ball’s post office opened in 1916

Most of Cannon Ball was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1990.

1916first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
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Photo: {{{1}}} · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Cannon Ball began

When was Cannon Ball founded?

1916

The Cannon Ball post office opened in 1916, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hekton (1913), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 702 in 19902020 census: 864110 years
Founding year: the first Cannon Ball post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cannon Ball’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Cannon Ball are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cannon Ball’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cannon Ball’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Cannon Ball, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cannon Ball yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Cannon Ball is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and in Sioux County, North Dakota, United States. It is located in the northeastern part of Sioux County, having developed at the confluence of the Cannonball River and Lake Oahe of the Missouri River. The population was 864 as of the 2020 census, and was estimated at 857 in 2025.

Its first post office opened in 1916. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 875 in 2010, 864 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Cannon Ball, 1913 to 1968

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1913Post officeThe Hekton post office opens
  3. 1916Post officeThe Hekton post office closes
  4. 1916Post officeThe Cannon Ball post office opens
  5. 1966Post officeThe Cannon Ball post office closes
  6. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Cannon Ball, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Untitled photo2014Untitled photoUntitled photo2014Untitled photoUntitled photo2014Untitled photoCannon Ball, North Dakota2009Cannon Ball, North DakotaCannon Ball, ND2005Cannon Ball, ND
On the map

Cannon Ball on the map, 1968 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cannon Ball. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Cannon Ball on the 1968 USGS mapCannon Ball on the 1980 USGS map1968Cannon Ball sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cannon Ball.

People over time

Cannon Ball, census by census

020040060080020002020Peak: 875

Between 702 and 875 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cannon Ball’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Cannon Ball had its own post office from 1916 to 1966. Another post office, Hekton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hekton
1913–1916
Cannon Ball
1916–1966
19101970today
Gone or out of use
Cannon Ball Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cannon Ball
Big LakeCannon Ball Memorial CongregationalOld CatholicSaint Elizabeth's CatholicSaint James Episcopal

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Cannon Ball’s history

What year was Cannon Ball founded?

The Cannon Ball post office opened in 1916, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

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 Wikimedia Commons (5), 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.