Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listings are the South Dakota Department of Transportation Bridge No. 63-052-030 and the Dalton Township Bridge. Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1910.
Dolton Township dates its founding to 1909 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dolton Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dolton Township. 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 Dolton Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dolton Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Dolton is a town in Turner County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 34 at the 2020 census.
Dolton Township was established in 1909. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 129 to 110 (-15%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The 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 34 and 147 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dolton Township’s Wikipedia page.
Another post office, Lost Lake, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1909, according to Wikidata. Dolton Township’s post office opened in 1874, and the census of 1910 counted 147 people here.
Two places: the South Dakota Department of Transportation Bridge No. 63-052-030 (listed 1999) and the Dalton Township Bridge (1999).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
