–Not graded

History · Florence

Florence’s post office opened in 1906, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Florence Methodist Church. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1973 on, and the census since 1910.

1906first post office

1on the National Register

21%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

1famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Quick answers

How Florence began

When was Florence founded?

1906

The Florence post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 270 in 19102020 census: 337120 years

Founding year: the first Florence post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Florence’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’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Florence’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+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

The story so far

Florence, in brief

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

Florence is a town in northwestern Codington County, South Dakota, United States. It is part of the Watertown, South Dakota Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 337 at the 2020 census. Florence was named for a lady acquaintance of a railroad employee.

Its first post office opened in 1906. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 374 to 337 (-10%).

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

Timeline

Florence, 1892 to 1973

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

19th century
1892In the archiveHand County, South Dakota (1892)
20th century
1906Post officeThe Florence post office opens
1929Born hereWayne Popham is born here
1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

Florence, decade by decade

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

1890s1 item

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

2004SDMap-doton-Florence

On the map

Florence on the map, 1973 to 1985

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

1973Florence 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.

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.

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’s page.

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 historic place in Florence

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1991

Florence Methodist Church

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Akron Plan Church1

All 1 listings

Florence Methodist ChurchBuilding · listed 1991

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

People over time

Florence, census by census

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’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Fuller Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Florence’s history

What year was Florence founded?

The Florence post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Florence?

One place: the Florence Methodist Church (listed 1991).

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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.

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