Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Fairview 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 · Fairview Township

Fairview Township dates to 1886, and 74% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1910.

1886founded
0on the National Register
74%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fairview Township began

When was Fairview Township founded?

1886

Fairview Township dates its founding to 1886 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 107 in 19102020 census: 164140 years
Founding year: Wikipedia.

What stands out about Fairview 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 Fairview Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Fairview Township’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 174 in 1920; 61 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fairview Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairview 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

Fairview Township, in brief

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

Fairview is a town in Lincoln County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 61 at the 2020 census. Fairview was laid out in 1886, and named for the scenic valley setting of the site.

Fairview Township was established in 1886. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 192 to 164 (-15%).

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

People over time

Fairview Township, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020Peak: 174

Peaked at 174 in 1920; 61 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fairview Township’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Fairview Township, 1886 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886
    FoundingFairview Township is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 174
  5. 1968On 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

Fairview Township on the map, 1968 to 1985

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

Fairview Township on the 1968 USGS mapFairview Township on the 1985 USGS map1968Alcester NE 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 Fairview Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Fairview Township

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

See all →
Ernest LawrenceAmerican nuclear physicist · b. 1901
Robert A. DahlAmerican political scientist · b. 1915
Tim JohnsonAmerican politician of South Dakota · b. 1946
Hope EmersonAmerican actress · b. 1897
J
James Francis MacbrideU.S. botanist · b. 1892
Ellis Yarnal BerryAmerican politician · b. 1902
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Fairviewlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fairview Township
BethanyFairview

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

FairviewIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEden TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHighland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Fairview Township’s history

What year was Fairview Township founded?

In 1886, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1910 counted 107 people here.

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, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.