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History · Smoky Butte Township

55% of Smoky Butte Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1948 on.

0on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Smoky Butte Township’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 Smoky Butte Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Smoky Butte Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Smoky Butte Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Smoky Butte Township’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

Smoky Butte Township, in brief

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

Smoky Butte is a township in Divide County, North Dakota, United States. It has a population of 20 and an elevation of 2,054 feet (626 m). U.S. Route 85 runs through the township. Smoky Butte contains two waterfowl production areas.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 34 to 20 (-41%).

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

Timeline

Smoky Butte Township, 1906 to 1948

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Post officeThe Rudser post office opens
  3. 1917Post officeThe Rudser post office closes
  4. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Smoky Butte Township on the map, 1948 to 1984

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

Smoky Butte Township on the 1948 USGS mapSmoky Butte Township on the 1984 USGS map1948Smoky Butte 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 Smoky Butte Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Another post office, Rudser, opened and closed inside today’s town.

1cemetery inside Smoky Butte Township
Rudser Church

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Garnet TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlue Ridge TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSioux Trail TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBurg TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Smoky Butte Township’s history

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.