Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1973 on and the census since 1920.
The La Bolt post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Labolt (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how La Bolt’s history is told.
Peaked at 164 in 1950; 66 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on La Bolt’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of La Bolt yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
La Bolt is a town in Grant County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 66 at the 2020 census. The town has the name of Alfred Labolt, a pioneer settler.
Its first post office opened in 1899. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 68 to 66 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of La Bolt. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of La Bolt.
Nobody well known was born in La Bolt itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Labolt, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The La Bolt post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), 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.
2004
