Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Elrod 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 · Elrod Township

Elrod Township’s post office opened in 1884, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1973 on.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Elrod Township began

When was Elrod Township founded?

1884

The Elrod Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Ida (1883) and Elrod (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 97142 years
Founding year: the first Elrod Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Elrod 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 Elrod Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Elrod Township’s homes were built before 1941.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Elrod Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elrod Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elrod 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

Elrod Township, in brief

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

Elrod was a town in Clark County, South Dakota. It was 8 miles (13 km) east of Clark, South Dakota located on two railroads. Elrod was originally called Ida, becoming Elrod in 1883. The most popular explanation for the town's name is that it is after Samuel H. Elrod, a personal friend of the original owner of the town site, and at one point an attorney in Clark county. However, there are competing explanations: that it was after a local grain merchant named W. S. Elrod; or alternatively that Ida and Elrod were initially two separate towns around stops on two railroads, Ida on the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad and (South) Elrod on the Chicago and North Western Railroad, and the latter surv…

Its first post office opened in 1884. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 90 to 97 (+8%).

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Ida
1883–1884
Elrod
1884–1954
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Elrod
1cemetery inside Elrod Township
South Elrod

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

Timeline

Elrod Township, 1883 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Ida post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Ida post office closes
  4. 1884Post officeThe Elrod post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1954Post officeThe Elrod post office closes
  7. 1973On 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

Elrod Township on the map, 1973 to 1985

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

Elrod Township on the 1973 USGS mapElrod Township on the 1985 USGS map1973Naples 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 Elrod Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Elrod Township

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

See all →
Hubert HumphreyVice president of the United States from 1965 t… · b. 1911
Sam AndersonAmerican actor · b. 1947
Lawrence KnappField hockey player · b. 1905
N
Nancy DickeyAmerican physician; first female president of A… · b. 1950
J
Jack TowersJazz audio engineer · b. 1914
Jerry LohrAmerican winegrower · b. 1937
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Foxton Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDay TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHenry TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Elrod Township’s history

What year was Elrod Township founded?

The Elrod Township post office opened in 1884, 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 →
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 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.