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History · Howard Township

Howard Township dates to 1881, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1983 on, and the census since 1900.

1881founded
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Howard Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Howard Township began

When was Howard Township founded?

1881

Howard Township dates its founding to 1881 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 588 in 19002020 census: 14145 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1940.The full story ↓

What stands out about Howard 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,325 in 1920; 848 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Howard Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Howard Township’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 viewTornado1884: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Howard Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,325

Peaked at 1,325 in 1920; 848 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Howard Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Howard Township.

Read it all →

The city of Howard was established in 1881, shortly after the Southern Minnesota Railway was extended to that point. The city was named for Howard Farmer, the son of the townsite owner, J. D. Farmer. In 1883, when Miner and Sanborn counties were organized, the town was named the county seat of Miner County.

One of the first known photographs of a tornado is an image of the 1884 Howard, South Dakota, tornado.

The first public library in Dakota Territory was the Howard Public Library, chartered in 1886.

Howard became the first municipality in South Dakota to own and operate its own wind turbines in 2001.

Since 2001, over 200 new jobs have been created in the community. From 1996 to 2008, the city's sales tax revenues increased 123%.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Howard Township, 1881 to 1983

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881
    FoundingHoward Township is established
  3. 1884In the archiveTornado1884
  4. 20th century
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,325
  6. 1940Post officeThe Howes post office opens
  7. 1983On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Howard Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
Tornado18841884Tornado1884
1890s–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
Today2 recent
Free Workshop Aug 16 in Miner Co., SD - Cover Crops-Soil Quality-Native Grasses2012Free Workshop Aug 16 in Miner Co., SD - Cover Crops-S…SDMap-doton-Howard2004SDMap-doton-Howard
On the map

Howard Township on the map in 1983

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Howard Township.

Howard Township on the 1983 USGS map1983Lemmon Creek 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 Howard Township.

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.

Tornado1884
Retake this viewTornado1884, 1884

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Howard Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Howes
1cemetery inside Howard Township
Plainview

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.

Union TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDakota TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Howard Township’s history

What year was Howard Township founded?

In 1881, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Howard Township’s post office opened in 1940, and the census of 1900 counted 588 people here.

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 (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.