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History · Castlewood

Castlewood dates to 1881, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the M.O. Hanson Building. Its Register listing is the M.O. Hanson Building. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1900.

1881founded
1on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Castlewood began

When was Castlewood founded?

1881

Castlewood dates its founding to 1881 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 430 in 19002020 census: 698145 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1879.The full story ↓

What stands out about Castlewood’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 Castlewood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Castlewood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Castlewood’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
The story

How Castlewood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Castlewood.

Read it all →

Castlewood was platted in 1881 when the railroad was extended to that point. The city was named Castlewood after a place mentioned in the 1857 novel The Virginians by William Makepeace Thackeray. A post office has been in operation in Castlewood since September 27, 1882.

A destructive EF2 tornado hit the town on May 12, 2022, destroying several structures, damaging homes, and injuring one person.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Castlewood, 1879 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Keator post office opens
  3. 1881
    FoundingCastlewood is established
  4. 1882Post officeThe Keator post office closes
  5. 1882Post officeThe Castlewood post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1907BuiltM.O. Hanson Building is built
  8. 1951Born hereMarvin Heemeyer is born here
  9. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Castlewood, decade by decade

Today3 recent
EF2 damage Castlewood, South Dakota 20222022EF2 damage Castlewood, South Dakota 2022M. O. HANSON BUILDING2013M. O. HANSON BUILDINGSDMap-doton-Castlewood2004SDMap-doton-Castlewood
On the map

Castlewood on the map, 1969 to 1985

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

Castlewood on the 1969 USGS mapCastlewood on the 1985 USGS map1969Castlewood 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 Castlewood.

Every building

Castlewood, building by building, 1904–1914

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.

Castlewood fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 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.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Castlewood

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2011
M.O. Hanson Building
M.O. Hanson Building, built 1907
Buildings
M.O. Hanson BuildingBuilt 1907

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

People over time

Castlewood, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 698

Between 430 and 698 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Castlewood’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Keator, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Keator
1879–1882
Castlewood
1882–today
18701950today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Castlewood
CastlewoodSaint John's Catholic

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.

Castlewood TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFlorence Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Castlewood’s history

What year was Castlewood founded?

In 1881, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Castlewood’s post office opened in 1879, and the census of 1900 counted 430 people here.

What is on the National Register in Castlewood?

One place: the M.O. Hanson Building (listed 2011).

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 (3), Wikidata (1), 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), 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.