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–Not graded
History · Grandview Township

29% of Grandview Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1898 on.

0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Grandview 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 Grandview Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18983 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1985. Watch Grandview Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Grandview Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Grandview Township on the map, 1898 to 1985

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

Grandview Township on the 1898 USGS mapGrandview Township on the 1970 USGS mapGrandview Township on the 1985 USGS map1898Parker sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Grandview Township.

The story

How Grandview Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Grandview Township.

Read it all →

Grand View was platted on August 21, 1882, by Kingsley G. Foster, Joe Devy and Rufus D. Prescott. The former two owned a store on the eastern side of town which served as the county courthouse. It narrowly beat Huston and Douglas City, both long since abandoned. Douglas County had a turbulent history, with its first county seat a paper town named Brownsdale, which was created by a con artist named Walter H. Brown. The scandal had been uncovered by county resident and future South Dakota Attorney General Robert Dollard. Governor Nehemiah Ordway, who had been involved in the Brownsdale scandal, supported Huston as the county seat. Dollard allegedly provided beer to county residents to support Grand View as the new county seat.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Grandview Township

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

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James BauschAmerican athletics competitor · b. 1906
Connor HansenAmerican politician · b. 1913
F
Frank BauschAmerican football player · b. 1908
Wilbur FossAmerican politician and fiddler · b. 1921
Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Grandview Township
FreemanHutterthal Mennonite ChurchTschetter

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.

Freeman3 historic placesB+Silver Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townValley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRosefield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWolf Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Grandview Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.