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History · South Heart

South Heart’s post office opened in 1883, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1970.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From South Heart’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How South Heart began

When was South Heart founded?

1883

The South Heart post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1908.

First census: 132 in 19702020 census: 394143 years
Founding year: the first South Heart post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1908.The full story ↓
The story

How South Heart came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of South Heart.

Read it all →

The city lies on the south side of the Heart River, hence the name.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

South Heart, 1883 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe South Heart post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1936In the archiveStone farmhouse south of South Heart, North Dakota
  5. 1942In the archiveSouth Heart, North Dakota
  6. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

South Heart, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
Stone farmhouse south of South Heart, North Dakota1936Stone farmhouse south of South Heart, North DakotaSod farmhouse near South Heart, North Dakota1936Sod farmhouse near South Heart, North DakotaSod and store farmhouse south of South Heart, North Dakota1936Sod and store farmhouse south of South Heart, North D…Abondoned farm south of South Heart, North Dakota. Little Badlands in background1936Abondoned farm south of South Heart, North Dakota. Li…Farmer's children hauling water for stock near South Heart, North Dakota1936Farmer's children hauling water for stock near South …Sod and stone farmhouse near South Heart, North Dakota. Note wagon containing barrels for hauling water1936Sod and stone farmhouse near South Heart, North Dakot…
1940s1 item
South Heart, North Dakota1942South Heart, North Dakota
1950s–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
Today2 recent
Oil pumpjacks near South Heart ND12018Oil pumpjacks near South Heart ND1South Heart, North Dakota2008South Heart, North Dakota
On the map

South Heart on the map, 1953 to 1973

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

South Heart on the 1953 USGS mapSouth Heart on the 1973 USGS map1953Dickinson sheet · 1:250,000

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

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.

Stone farmhouse south of South Heart, North Dakota
Retake this viewStone farmhouse south of South Heart, North Dakota, 1936

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

South Heart, census by census

0100200300400198020002020394

Grew from 132 people in 1970 to 394 in 2020.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to South Heart

Nobody well known was born in South Heart itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
K
Kellan LutzAmerican actor and model · b. 1985
Byron DorganAmerican author, businessman, and politician · b. 1942
Kelly M. ArmstrongGovernor of North Dakota since 2024 · b. 1976
Dorothy StickneyBroadway actress · b. 1896
M
Malachi RitscherAmerican musician · b. 1954
Austin DufaultAmerican basketball player · b. 1990
Help out

Finish South Heart’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewStone farmhouse south of South Heart, N…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about South Heart’s history

What year was South Heart founded?

The South Heart post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1908.

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 (2), the Library of Congress (7), 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.