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History · Crow Lake Township

Crow Lake Township’s post office opened in 1883

Below: maps from 1982 on.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Crow Lake Township began

When was Crow Lake Township founded?

1883

The Crow Lake Township post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Busby (1883) and Crow Lake (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 55143 years
Founding year: the first Crow Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Crow Lake 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 writtenNo old photos of Crow Lake Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Crow Lake Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Crow Lake Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Crow Lake Township’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Busby
1883–1883
Crow Lake
1883–1914
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Crow Lake
Gone or out of use
Crow Lake Post Officepost officeSchool Number 9school
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Crow Lake Township
Crow Lake CatholicSalem

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

The story so far

Crow Lake Township, in brief

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

Crow Lake is an unincorporated community in Jerauld County, South Dakota, United States. It lies at an elevation of 1,729 ft (527 m).

Its first post office opened in 1883. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 54 in 2010, 55 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Crow Lake Township, 1883 to 1982

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Busby post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Busby post office closes
  4. 1883Post officeThe Crow Lake post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1914Post officeThe Crow Lake post office closes
  7. 1982On 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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Crow Lake Township on the map in 1982

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Crow Lake Township.

Crow Lake Township on the 1982 USGS map1982Crow Lake sheet · 1:25,000

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Crow Lake Township

Nobody well known was born in Crow Lake Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
David RumelhartAmerican psychologist · b. 1942
Q
Quinten BurgAmerican politician · b. 1948
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Patten Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAnina Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLogan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPleasant TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Crow Lake Township’s history

What year was Crow Lake Township founded?

The Crow Lake Township post office opened in 1883, 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.