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History · Akaska

Akaska’s post office opened in 1907, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1910.

1907first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Akaska began

When was Akaska founded?

1907

The Akaska post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 114 in 19102020 census: 77119 years
Founding year: the first Akaska post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Akaska’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 Akaska are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1930 and 2000, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Akaska’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Akaska, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020169 in 1930Low: 31

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1930 and 2000, then more than doubled.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Akaska came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Akaska.

Read it all →

Akaska was founded in 1907 as a station stop on a branch line of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway built that year between Conde and LeBeau, South Dakota. Railway service to Akaska ended in 1940.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Akaska, 1907 to 1968

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Post officeThe Akaska post office opens
  3. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 169
  4. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Akaska, decade by decade

Today1 recent
SDMap-doton-Akaska2004SDMap-doton-Akaska
On the map

Akaska on the map, 1968 to 1985

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

Akaska on the 1968 USGS mapAkaska on the 1985 USGS map1968Akaska 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 Akaska.

Famous people

Famous people close to Akaska

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

See all →
S
Steven BieglerAmerican prelate · b. 1959
George S. MickelsonAmerican politician · b. 1941
George T. MickelsonUnited States federal judge and Governor of Sou… · b. 1903
Hazel ForbesAmerican actress and dancer · b. 1910
M
Michel MulloyUS minister and Roman Catholic bishop of Duluth · b. 1953
Steve AsmussenAmerican Thoroughbred racehorse trainer · b. 1965

Questions about Akaska’s history

What year was Akaska founded?

The Akaska 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 →
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 (1), 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.