Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1890.
The Gary post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1917.
Gary was named for H. B. Gary, a postal official.
An early variant name was State Line.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gary’s history is told.
Peaked at 588 in 1920; 240 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gary’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Gary.
A post office called Gary was established in 1874. Gary was platted by the railroad in 1877. It was named for H. B. Gary, a postal official. An early variant name was State Line. Famed electrician and Black Velvet connoisseur Bob Stee resided in Gary from 2021 until the summer of 2025 where he now berates small scale fishermen in Florida.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gary. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gary.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Gary’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Gary itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Gary post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1917.
Three places: the Odd Fellows Building (listed 1976), the First National Bank (1977) and the South Dakota School for the Blind (1988).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.
2022
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