Belle Fourche’s post office opened in 1891, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #14 of 35 in South Dakota. What drives it
16 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 16 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Belle Fourche post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Belle Fourche’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belle Fourche is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #14 of 35 in South Dakota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belle Fourche’s overall grade.
South Dakota towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical South Dakota town has 37.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Belle Fourche’s 50.0 sits above most of its state (74% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 29 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Belle Fourche’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
On the map
Belle Fourche on the map, 1907 to 1979
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Belle Fourche. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1907Redwater sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Belle Fourche.
Every building
Belle Fourche, building by building, 1903–1923
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1903Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Belle Fourche, French for "beautiful fork", was named by French explorers from New France, referring to the confluence of what is now known as the Belle Fourche and Redwater Rivers and the Hay Creek. Beaver trappers worked these rivers until the mid-19th century, and Belle Fourche became a well-known fur-trading rendezvous point. During and after the gold rush of 1876, farmers and ranchers settled in the fertile valleys, growing food for the miners and their animals. At the time, the open plains for hundred of miles in all directions were also being filled with huge herds of Texas and Kansas cattle. Towns sprang up to serve the ever-changing needs of the farmers and ranchers. In 1884, the Marquis de Mores, a French nobleman and contemporary of Theodore Roosevelt, established a stagecoach line between Medora, North Dakota and Deadwood, South Dakota. The Belle Fourche way station included…
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.
The Belle Fourche post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Belle Fourche rank for history?
Belle Fourche is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #14 of 35 in South Dakota. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Belle Fourche?
16 listings: 11 buildings, among them the John Aaron Scotney House (listed 1978, the first), 1 historic district, the Belle Fourche Commercial Historic District, with 16 contributing buildings, and 4 structures. 29 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Belle Fourche?
16% of Belle Fourche’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 1978.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (16), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
![Round-up scenes on Belle Fouche [sic] in 1887](https://images.townratings.com/story/16156/2b8c6a4b3ef28015246c-s.jpg)
1887![Roundup scenes on Belle Fouche [sic] in 1887](https://images.townratings.com/story/16156/d1e1663ec02e8fbd7fe6-s.jpg)
1887![Round-up scenes on Belle Fouche [sic] in 1887](https://images.townratings.com/story/16156/32c406027a99167a4686-s.jpg)
1887