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History · Florence Township

Florence Township’s post office opened in 1883

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1910.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Florence Township began

When was Florence Township founded?

1883

The Florence Township post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Florence (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 270 in 19102020 census: 26143 years
Founding year: the first Florence Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Florence 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Florence Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Florence Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHand County, South Dakota (1892): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Florence Township, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 17 to 26 (+53%).

Timeline

Florence Township, 1883 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Florence post office opens
  3. 1892In the archiveHand County, South Dakota (1892)
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Post officeThe Florence post office closes
  6. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Florence Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Hand County, South Dakota (1892)1892Hand County, South Dakota (1892)
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
SDMap-doton-Florence2004SDMap-doton-Florence
On the map

Florence Township on the map, 1951 to 1985

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

Florence Township on the 1951 USGS mapFlorence Township on the 1985 USGS map1951Ree Heights 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 Florence Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hand County, South Dakota (1892)
Retake this viewHand County, South Dakota (1892), 1892

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Florence Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Florence Township, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 374

Between 175 and 374 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Another post office, Florence, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Florence

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.

Alpha TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHolden TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAlden TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCarlton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Florence Township’s history

What year was Florence Township founded?

The Florence 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 →
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 Wikimedia Commons (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.