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History · Ada Township

Ada Township’s post office opened in 1907

Below: maps from 1983 on.

1907first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Ada Township began

When was Ada Township founded?

1907

The Ada Township post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Ada (1907), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 12119 years
Founding year: the first Ada Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Ada 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 Ada Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ada Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ada 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

Ada Township, in brief

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

Ada (ZIP code 57644) is a rural township in Perkins County, South Dakota, with a population of 557.

Its first post office opened in 1907. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 15 to 12 (-20%).

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

Timeline

Ada Township, 1907 to 1983

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Post officeThe Ada post office opens
  3. 1923Post officeThe Ada post office closes
  4. 1983On 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

Ada Township on the map in 1983

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ada Township.

Ada Township on the 1983 USGS map1983Two Buttes 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 Ada Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Ada Township

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

See all →
Carveth ThompsonAmerican politician in South Dakota · b. 1932
Cole ElshereAmerican rodeo cowboy · b. 1989
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

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

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.

Lone Tree TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChaudoin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHall TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townChance Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Ada Township’s history

What year was Ada Township founded?

The Ada Township post office opened in 1907, 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 and the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.