Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Avon

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Avon

Avon dates to 1879, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1978 on, and the census since 1910.

1879founded
1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Avon’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Avon began

When was Avon founded?

1879

Avon dates its founding to 1879 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 451 in 19102020 census: 586147 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1881.The full story ↓

What stands out about Avon’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Avon’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Avon’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1952 Homecoming Parade - Menno, South D…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Avon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Avon.

Read it all →

Avon was founded in 1879. The community owes its name to Avon, New York, the hometown of an early postmaster. Construction of the railroad prompted the town to move to its current site in 1900.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Avon, 1879 to 1978

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879
    FoundingAvon is established
  3. 1881Post officeThe Avon post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1922Born hereGeorge McGovern is born here
  6. 1952In the archive1952 Homecoming Parade - Menno, South Dakota 06
  7. 1978On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Avon, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s1 item
1952 Homecoming Parade - Menno, South Dakota 0619521952 Homecoming Parade - Menno, South Dakota 06
1960s–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
Today9 recent
Dr John C Greenfield House2010Dr John C Greenfield HouseAvon SD water tower2010Avon SD water towerAvon SD School2010Avon SD SchoolAvon SD School 22010Avon SD School 2Avon SD McGovern2010Avon SD McGovernAvon SD Main Street2010Avon SD Main StreetAvon SD Historic Hwy Marker2010Avon SD Historic Hwy MarkerAvon SD American Legion2010Avon SD American LegionSDMap-doton-Avon2004SDMap-doton-Avon
On the map

Avon on the map in 1978

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Avon.

Avon on the 1978 USGS map1978Avon 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 Avon.

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.

1952 Homecoming Parade - Menno, South Dakota 06
Retake this view1952 Homecoming Parade - Menno, South Dakota 06, 1952

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Avon

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Dr. John C. Greenfield House
Dr. John C. Greenfield House
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
All 1 listings
Dr. John C. Greenfield HouseDistrict · listed 1989

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Avon, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 728

Between 451 and 728 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Avon’s history

What year was Avon founded?

In 1879, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Avon’s post office opened in 1881, and the census of 1910 counted 451 people here.

What is on the National Register in Avon?

One place: the Dr. John C. Greenfield House (listed 1989).

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 (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.