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History · Bates Township

Bates Township’s post office opened in 1886

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1973 on.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bates Township began

When was Bates Township founded?

1886

The Bates Township post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bates (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 44140 years
Founding year: the first Bates Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bates 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bates Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHand County, South Dakota (1892): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Bates Township, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1886. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 43 to 44 (+2%).

Timeline

Bates Township, 1886 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Bates post office opens
  3. 1892In the archiveHand County, South Dakota (1892)
  4. 20th century
  5. 1924Post officeThe Bates post office closes
  6. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bates Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Hand County, South Dakota (1892)1892Hand County, South Dakota (1892)
1900s–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
On the map

Bates Township on the map, 1973 to 1985

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

Bates Township on the 1973 USGS mapBates Township on the 1985 USGS map1973Cottonwood Lake 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 Bates Township.

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.

Hand County, South Dakota (1892)
Retake this viewHand County, South Dakota (1892), 1892

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Bateslocale
1cemetery inside Bates Township
New Zion

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.

Spring Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRose Hill Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHarmony Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBurr Oak TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarlar TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bates Township’s history

What year was Bates Township founded?

The Bates Township post office opened in 1886, 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), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.