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–Not graded
History · Kimball

Kimball’s post office opened in 1881, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Holy Trinity Church. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1986 on, and the census since 1890.

1881first post office
1on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kimball’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kimball began

When was Kimball founded?

1881

The Kimball post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1883. Another post office, Andover (1881), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 593 in 18902020 census: 572145 years
Founding year: the first Kimball post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1883.The full story ↓

What stands out about Kimball’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 1,111 in 1930; 572 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Kimball’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kimball’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kimball’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 viewKimball, SD - Apr. 16, 1918: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Kimball, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,111

Peaked at 1,111 in 1930; 572 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Kimball came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kimball.

Read it all →

Kimball was first known as Stake 48 on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad line going west out of Mitchell. In 1880, the first homestead claims were made in the vicinity of Stake 48. Kimball was organized as a village in the spring of 1883. The town was named for J. W. Kimball, a railroad surveyor.

The 1895 Holy Trinity Church is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The two major fires that hit Kimball, South Dakota, were significant events in the town's history, both causing extensive damage to its downtown area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kimball, 1881 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Andover post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Andover post office closes
  4. 1881Post officeThe Kimball post office opens
  5. 1895BuiltHoly Trinity Church is built
  6. 1896Born hereAlton Ochsner is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1918In the archiveKimball, SD - Apr. 16, 1918
  9. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 1,111
  10. 1986On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Kimball, decade by decade

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

1910s1 item
Kimball, SD - Apr. 16, 19181918Kimball, SD - Apr. 16, 1918
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
Today1 recent
SDMap-doton-Kimball2004SDMap-doton-Kimball
On the map

Kimball on the map in 1986

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kimball.

Kimball on the 1986 USGS map1986Mitchell sheet · 1:100,000

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

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.

Kimball, SD - Apr. 16, 1918
Retake this viewKimball, SD - Apr. 16, 1918, 1918

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Kimball

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
1983
Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Church, built 1895
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Bohemian Vernacular1
Gothic1
Holy Trinity ChurchBohemian Vernacular · Built 1895

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Kimball’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, Andover, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Andover
1881–1881
Kimball
1881–today
18801950today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Kimball
KimballSaint Margarets

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.

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

Questions about Kimball’s history

What year was Kimball founded?

The Kimball post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1883.

What is on the National Register in Kimball?

One place: the Holy Trinity Church (listed 1983).

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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.