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History · Interior

Interior’s post office opened in 1894, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1930.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Interior began

When was Interior founded?

1894

The Interior post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1907. Another post office, Black (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 144 in 19302020 census: 65132 years
Founding year: the first Interior post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1907.The full story ↓

What stands out about Interior’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 182 in 1940; 65 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Interior’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Interior’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewUnknown Correspondent, Interior, South …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Interior, census by census

010020019401960198020002020Peak: 182

Peaked at 182 in 1940; 65 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story

How Interior came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Interior.

Read it all →

Norwegian immigrants George and Louis Johnson moved from Chamberlain, South Dakota to the banks of the White River just north of the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1883 to establish a way-station for freighting between Chamberlain and the Black Hills. In 1886, the area was connected by rail to Gordon, Nebraska. In 1891, the former way-station was called Black, with Mary Johnson as its first postmaster. In 1893, the town was renamed "Interior" by George Johnson because he did not think the name "Black" fit the description of the White River that surrounded the town. In 1907 and 1908, the town was moved two miles and half northwest along the White River to meet the Milwaukee Railroad. The former location of the town became known as "old Interior".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Interior, 1891 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Black post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Black post office closes
  4. 1894Post officeThe Interior post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1913In the archiveUnknown Correspondent, Interior, South Dakota, to J.J. Dunken [Duncan]
  7. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 182
  8. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Interior, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s2 items
Unknown Correspondent, Interior, South Dakota, to J.J. Dunken [Duncan]1913Unknown Correspondent, Interior, South Dakota, to J.J…J.J. Duncan to L.E. Squire, Interior, South Dakota1915J.J. Duncan to L.E. Squire, Interior, South Dakota
1920s–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
Today10 recent
Interior Township, SD, USA - panoramio - Idawriter (15)2010Interior Township, SD, USA - panoramio - Idawriter (1…Interior Township, SD, USA - panoramio - Idawriter (13)2010Interior Township, SD, USA - panoramio - Idawriter (1…Interior Township, SD, USA - panoramio - Idawriter (12)2010Interior Township, SD, USA - panoramio - Idawriter (1…Interior Township, SD, USA - panoramio - Idawriter (11)2010Interior Township, SD, USA - panoramio - Idawriter (1…Interior Township, SD, USA - panoramio - Idawriter (10)2010Interior Township, SD, USA - panoramio - Idawriter (1…Interior Business District2010Interior Business DistrictCowboy Corner2010Cowboy CornerApproaching2010ApproachingYellowstone 0822009Yellowstone 082Interior SD2006Interior SD
On the map

Interior on the map, 1950 to 1980

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

Interior on the 1950 USGS mapInterior on the 1978 USGS mapInterior on the 1980 USGS map1950Interior 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 Interior.

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.

Unknown Correspondent, Interior, South Dakota, to J.J. Dunken [Duncan]
Retake this viewUnknown Correspondent, Interior, South Dakota, to J.J. Dunken [Duncan], 1913

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Interior

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

See all →
Patrick Henry BradyUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1936
R
Raymond Yellow ThunderDeath of Raymond Yellow Thunder · b. 1921
J
J.R. RigginsAmerican politician
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Interior’s post office has been open since 1894. Another post office, Black, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Black
1891–1894
Interior
1894–today
18901960today
Gone or out of use
Interior Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Interior
Interior

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Interior’s history

What year was Interior founded?

The Interior post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1907.

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 (12), 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.