Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Bristol

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 · Bristol

Bristol’s post office opened in 1881, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1890.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: TimothyMN · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Bristol began

When was Bristol founded?

1881

The Bristol post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1921.

First census: 199 in 18902020 census: 288145 years
Founding year: the first Bristol post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1921.

What stands out about Bristol’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 Bristol are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 675 in 1940; 288 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1893 to 1921, drew every building in Bristol.Old housesHalf of Bristol’s homes were built before 1947.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bristol’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bristol’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

Bristol, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 675

Peaked at 675 in 1940; 288 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Every building

Bristol, building by building, 1893–1921

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.

Bristol fire insurance map, 1893, sheet 11893Sheet 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.

The story so far

Bristol, in brief

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

Bristol is a city located in western Day County, South Dakota, United States. It lies in Section 25 of Bristol Township, on the main line of what is now the BNSF Railway alongside U.S. Route 12. The population was 288 at the 2020 census.` Similar to many towns of the area and of the Midwest in general, Bristol came into being as a result of railroad expansion. The railroad, which first came through the area in the 1870s, identified the site which would become Bristol as Station #70. C.P. Prior, a district railroad surveyor and townsite agent, was given credit for naming Bristol in 1881. He named the town after Bristol, England.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 341 to 288 (-16%).

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

Timeline

Bristol, 1881 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Bristol post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 675
  5. 1942Born hereDavid Sigdestad is born here
  6. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bristol, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Bristol South Dakota Post Office2020Bristol South Dakota Post OfficeBristol South Dakota Mural2020Bristol South Dakota MuralBristol South Dakota Haunted Warehouse2020Bristol South Dakota Haunted WarehouseBristol South Dakota Gas Station Signs2020Bristol South Dakota Gas Station SignsSDMap-doton-Bristol2007SDMap-doton-Bristol
On the map

Bristol on the map, 1973 to 1985

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

Bristol on the 1973 USGS mapBristol on the 1985 USGS map1973Bristol East 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 Bristol.

Questions about Bristol’s history

What year was Bristol founded?

The Bristol post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1921.

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 (5), 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.