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History · Hazel

Hazel’s post office opened in 1888, and 54% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the First State Bank of Hazel. Below: maps from 1973 on and the census since 1910.

1888first post office
1on the National Register
54%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Hazel began

When was Hazel founded?

1888

The Hazel post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 229 in 19102020 census: 102138 years
Founding year: the first Hazel post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Hazel’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 Hazel are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Hazel’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hazel’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Hazel, in brief

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

Hazel is a town in Hamlin County, South Dakota, United States. It is part of the Watertown, South Dakota Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 102 at the 2020 census. The town is named for Hazel Bowley, the daughter of the original owner of the town site.

Its first post office opened in 1888. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 91 to 102 (+12%).

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

Timeline

Hazel, 1888 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Hazel post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901BuiltFirst State Bank of Hazel is built
  5. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hazel, decade by decade

Today1 recent
SDMap-doton-Hazel2004SDMap-doton-Hazel
On the map

Hazel on the map, 1973 to 1985

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

Hazel on the 1973 USGS mapHazel on the 1985 USGS map1973Hazel 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 Hazel.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Hazel

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
First State Bank of Hazel
First State Bank of Hazel, built 1901
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Commercial Style1
All 1 listings
First State Bank of HazelBuilding · listed 1997

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

People over time

Hazel, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 247

Between 91 and 247 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Hazel

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

See all →
Kristi NoemAmerican politician · b. 1971
P
Patrick Spencer JohnsonAmerican writer · b. 1938
D
Dennis KoslowskiOlympic wrestler · b. 1959
M
Monte CookAmerican writer and game designer · b. 1968
Lee RaymondAmerican businessman · b. 1938
John HamreAmerican academic · b. 1950

Questions about Hazel’s history

What year was Hazel founded?

The Hazel post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hazel?

One place: the First State Bank of Hazel (listed 1997).

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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.