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History · Crook City

Crook City’s post office opened in 1877

Most of Crook City was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: maps from 1899 on.

1877first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Crook City began

When was Crook City founded?

1877

The Crook City post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 132149 years
Founding year: the first Crook City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Crook City’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 Crook City are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18994 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1971. Watch Crook City change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Crook City’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Crook City’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Crook City on the map, 1899 to 1971

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

Crook City on the 1899 USGS mapCrook City on the 1915 USGS mapCrook City on the 1961 USGS mapCrook City on the 1971 USGS map1899Sturgis 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 Crook City.

The story so far

Crook City, in brief

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

Crook City (also known as Camp Crook II or simply Crook) is a populated place in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 132 at the 2020 census. It became a census-designated place prior to the 2020 census. Crook City was named for General George Crook's 1876 camp there. Nearby and between Deadwood and Sturgis is Crook Mountain, also named for him.

Its first post office opened in 1877.

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

Timeline

Crook City, 1877 to 1899

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877Post officeThe Crook City post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Crook City post office closes
  4. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Crook City

Nobody well known was born in Crook City itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Lawrence LessigAmerican academic, political activist · b. 1961
Becky HammonAmerican-Russian basketball player and coach · b. 1977
Amy HillAmerican character actress · b. 1953
Dorothy ProvineAmerican singer, dancer, and actress · b. 1935
John MiljanAmerican actor · b. 1892
Larry RhodenAmerican politician · b. 1959
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Crook City had its own post office from 1877 to 1895.

Crook City
1877–1895
18701950today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Crook City’s history

What year was Crook City founded?

The Crook City post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.