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–Not graded
History · Sykeston

Sykeston’s post office opened in 1883, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1910.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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Photo: loyaldefender2004 · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Sykeston began

When was Sykeston founded?

1883

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

First census: 276 in 19102020 census: 105143 years
Founding year: the first Sykeston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sykeston’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 Sykeston are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 367 in 1920; 105 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Sykeston’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sykeston’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sykeston’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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People over time

Sykeston, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 367

Peaked at 367 in 1920; 105 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Sykeston, in brief

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

Sykeston is a city in Wells County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 105 at the 2020 census. Sykeston was founded in 1883 by Richard Sykes, a prominent landowner and founder of several other cities in the state. The city was the county seat of Wells County from 1884 to 1894, when Fessenden took over that role. As of 2010, the center of population of North Dakota was located approximately 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Sykeston.

Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 117 to 105 (-10%).

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

Timeline

Sykeston, 1883 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Sykeston post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 367
  5. 1951On 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

Sykeston on the map, 1951 to 1994

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

Sykeston on the 1951 USGS mapSykeston on the 1986 USGS mapSykeston on the 1994 USGS map1951Sykeston 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 Sykeston.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Sykeston TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sykeston’s history

What year was Sykeston founded?

The Sykeston post office opened in 1883, 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 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.