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History · Canton Township

21% of Canton Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Grand Valley Schoolhouse, District No. 12, the Canton Asylum for American Indians Cemetery and the South Dakota Dept of Trans. Bridge No. 42-200-125. Its Register listings are the Grand Valley Schoolhouse, District No. 12, the Canton Asylum for American Indians Cemetery and the South Dakota Dept of Trans. Bridge No. 42-200-125. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1880.

3on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Canton Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Canton 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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18974 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1985. Watch Canton Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Canton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Canton Township’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 viewCanton, S. Dak: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Canton Township on the map, 1897 to 1985

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

Canton Township on the 1897 USGS mapCanton Township on the 1900 USGS mapCanton Township on the 1964 USGS mapCanton Township on the 1985 USGS map1897Canton sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Canton Township.

The story

How Canton Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Canton Township.

Read it all →

The earliest known visitor to the area was Lewis P. Hyde, who first came to the area in 1866. The first actual settler was August Linderman. By 1868, there were 35 people living in Lincoln County. The residents named the community Canton, believing the location to be the exact opposite of Canton, China. By the summer of that year, a caravan of 180 Norwegian settlers crossed the Big Sioux River to make their home in Canton. In 1880, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad crossed the Big Sioux River to reach Canton. The city still has an active rail freight service. The city has many historical homes and buildings dating back to the late 1800s. Some notable sites include The Kennedy Mansion on Dakota Street, as well as the Historical Society House built in 1886. Lincoln County Courthouse was built in 1889, and Canton Lutheran Church was built in 1908.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Canton Township, 1883 to 1907

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883BuiltGrand Valley Schoolhouse, District No. 12 is built
  3. 1897On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907In the archiveCanton, S. Dak
By decade

Canton Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Canton, S. Dak1907Canton, S. DakCanton, S. Dak1907Canton, S. Dak
1910s–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
Today10 recent
Wendt House2025Wendt HouseGale Building2025Gale BuildingCanton, SDakota2014Canton, SDakotaPostcard-Court-House-in-Canton-SD2013Postcard-Court-House-in-Canton-SDPostcardOld Augustana2010Old AugustanaLincoln County Courthouse South Dakota 52010Lincoln County Courthouse South Dakota 5Canton, South Dakota 52010Canton, South Dakota 5Canton Lutheran Church2010Canton Lutheran ChurchByrnes House2010Byrnes HouseSDMap-doton-Canton2004SDMap-doton-Canton
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.

Canton, S. Dak
Retake this viewCanton, S. Dak, 1907

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Canton Township

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Grand Valley Schoolhouse, District No. 12
Grand Valley Schoolhouse, District No. 12, built 1883Canton Asylum for American Indians CemeterySouth Dakota Dept of Trans. Bridge No. 42-200-125
BuildingsSitesStructures

Architectural styles listings

Rural One-Room Schoolhouse1
Pratt through truss1
Grand Valley Schoolhouse, District No. 12Rural One-Room Schoolhouse · Built 1883
All 3 listings
Canton Asylum for American Indians CemeterySite · listed 1998South Dakota Dept of Trans. Bridge No. 42-200-125Structure · listed 2002

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

People over time

Canton Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,110

Between 675 and 3,110 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Canton13 historic placesA−Dayton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHighland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLynn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Canton Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Canton Township?

Three places: the Grand Valley Schoolhouse, District No. 12 (listed 1997), the Canton Asylum for American Indians Cemetery (1998) and the South Dakota Dept of Trans. Bridge No. 42-200-125 (2002).

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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.