Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Elmira Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Elmira Township

11% of Elmira Township’s homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: maps from 1969 on.

3on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

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

Start Elmira Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elmira 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
The story so far

Elmira Township, in brief

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

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 442 in 2010, 450 in 2020.

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

Elmira Township on the map, 1969 to 1985

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

Elmira Township on the 1969 USGS mapElmira Township on the 1985 USGS map1969Watertown East 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 Elmira Township.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Elmira Township

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Olive Place
Olive Place, built 1887South Dakota Dept. of Transportation Bridge No. 15-210-136Zech Farmstead
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Concrete slab1
All 3 listings
Olive PlaceBuilding · listed 1978South Dakota Dept. of Transportation Bridge No. 15-210-136Structure · listed 1993Zech FarmsteadDistrict · listed 2005

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Watertown28 historic placesB+Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKranzburg Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSheridan Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRauville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWaverly TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Elmira Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Elmira Township?

Three places: the Olive Place (listed 1978), the South Dakota Dept. of Transportation Bridge No. 15-210-136 (1993) and the Zech Farmstead (2005).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (3) and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.