Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Robert A. Crawford House and the Chamberlain Bridge. Its Register listings are the Robert A. Crawford House and the Chamberlain Bridge. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1890.
The Chamberlain post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chamberlain is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Chamberlain’s 7.7 sits near the middle of its state (39% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Chamberlain.
Chamberlain was named after Selah Chamberlain, a railroad director of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, as it was established by European Americans in relation to the construction of the railroad. The city is called "earth dwelling" in Lakota.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJulia Anna Gardner is born here
In the archiveChamberlain, S.D
In the archiveChamberlain, South Dakota (1911)
BuiltRobert A. Crawford House is built
In the archiveLake Shore Motel, one block off Highway U.S. 16, on the Fort Randall Reservoir Shore, Cha…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveAuction of calves at Chamberllain Sales Ring. Chamberlain, South Dakota
Born hereTravis Lutter is born here4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chamberlain. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Chamberlain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Chamberlain’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 874 and 2,626 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Chamberlain’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Chamberlain post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Chamberlain is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. 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.
Two places: the Robert A. Crawford House (listed 1994) and the Chamberlain Bridge (2001).
20% of Chamberlain’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 1971.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
1907
1907
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1907![Goverment [sic] Indian School](https://images.townratings.com/story/16146/c36c9b2b2b74ceeba7d5-s.jpg)
1907
c. 1930
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