More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #27 of 35 in South Dakota. What drives it
Most of Harrisburg was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2008. Below: maps from 1897 on and the census since 1910.
The Harrisburg post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Harrisburgh (1871), Selina (1880) and Springdale (1883), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 164 in 19102020 census: 6,732134 years
How historic is Harrisburg?
C−
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Harrisburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Harrisburg’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harrisburg is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #27 of 35 in South Dakota. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harrisburg’s overall grade.
South Dakota towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical South Dakota town has 37.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Harrisburg’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (15% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Harrisburg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Before the railroad was built through Lincoln County, a stagecoach brought mail to the Johnson Harris Homestead located on Nine Mile Creek in Dayton Township. Johnson Harris named the post office Harrisburg in honor of himself.
The history of Harrisburg started August 1, 1879, when the first train came rolling through the territory. The train went from Sioux City, Iowa, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The post office was moved to the Emory J. Darling Homestead, 1 mile south of what is now Harrisburg. The post office was called Salina in honor of Mrs. Jim Stillwell, an early settler and a highly respected teacher. In 1882 the name was changed to Springdale.
The Harrisburg post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Harrisburg rank for history?
Harrisburg is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #27 of 35 in South Dakota. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Harrisburg?
4% of Harrisburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 2008.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.
2026
2004