Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lakota

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Lakota

Lakota’s post office opened in 1883, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Tofthagen Library Museum and the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepard-Lakota. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1890.

1883first post office
2on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lakota’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lakota began

When was Lakota founded?

1883

The Lakota post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 227 in 18902020 census: 683143 years
Founding year: the first Lakota post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lakota’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,066 in 1960; 683 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1898 to 1928, drew every building in Lakota.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lakota’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAmidon Ledger page No 217 by Jaw ca 188…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Lakota, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,066

Peaked at 1,066 in 1960; 683 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Every building

Lakota, building by building, 1898–1928

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Lakota fire insurance map, 1898, sheet 11898Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story so far

Lakota, in brief

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

Lakota is a city in Nelson County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Nelson County. Lakota is located 63 miles west of Grand Forks and 27 miles east of Devils Lake. The population was 683 at the 2020 census, making Lakota the 76th-largest city in North Dakota.

Its first post office opened in 1883. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 672 in 2010, 683 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Lakota, 1883 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Lakota post office opens
  3. 1885In the archiveAmidon Ledger page No 217 by Jaw ca 1885 a
  4. 1897Born hereArthur Jackson Gronna is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1913In the archiveJaw (Ćehu′pa) or His Fight (Oki' cize-ta'wa) c.1853-1924, photographed in 1913 by Frances…
  7. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,066
  8. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lakota, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1910s3 items
Amidon Ledger page No 217 by Jaw ca 1885 a1885Amidon Ledger page No 217 by Jaw ca 1885 aAmidon Ledger page No 53 by Jaw ca. 18851885Amidon Ledger page No 53 by Jaw ca. 1885Jaw (Ćehu′pa) or His Fight (Oki' cize-ta'wa) c.1853-1924, photographed in 1913 by Frances Densmore a1913Jaw (Ćehu′pa) or His Fight (Oki' cize-ta'wa) c.1853-1…
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today9 recent
Lakota, North Dakota2003Lakota, North DakotaLakota, North Dakota2003Lakota, North DakotaLakota, North Dakota2003Lakota, North DakotaLakota, North Dakota2003Lakota, North DakotaLakota, North Dakota2003Lakota, North DakotaLakota, North Dakota2003Lakota, North DakotaLakota, North Dakota2003Lakota, North DakotaLakota, North Dakota (2003)2003Lakota, North Dakota (2003)Lakota North Dakota Water Tower2003Lakota North Dakota Water Tower
On the map

Lakota on the map, 1970 to 1993

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

Lakota on the 1970 USGS mapLakota on the 1983 USGS mapLakota on the 1993 USGS map1970Lakota 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 Lakota.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Amidon Ledger page No 217 by Jaw ca 1885 a
Retake this viewAmidon Ledger page No 217 by Jaw ca 1885 a, 1885

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lakota’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Lakota

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1991
Tofthagen Library Museum
Tofthagen Library MuseumEpiscopal Church of the Good Shepard-Lakota
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Prairie School1
Tofthagen Library MuseumPrairie School
Episcopal Church of the Good Shepard-LakotaBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Questions about Lakota’s history

What year was Lakota founded?

The Lakota post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Lakota?

Two places: the Tofthagen Library Museum (listed 1991) and the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepard-Lakota (2017).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.