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History · Lake Preston

Lake Preston’s post office opened in 1882, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1890.

1882first post office
3on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Lake Preston began

When was Lake Preston founded?

1882

The Lake Preston post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Preston (1879), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 337 in 18902020 census: 589144 years
Founding year: the first Lake Preston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lake Preston’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 Lake Preston are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,008 in 1920; 589 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lake Preston’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lake Preston’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
People over time

Lake Preston, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,008

Peaked at 1,008 in 1920; 589 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Lake Preston came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake Preston.

Read it all →

A post office called Preston was established in 1879, and the name was changed to Lake Preston in 1882. The town site was platted in 1881. It was located in the Dakota Territory at the time. The city took its name from nearby Lake Preston.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lake Preston, 1879 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Preston post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Preston post office closes
  4. 1882Post officeThe Lake Preston post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,008
  7. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lake Preston, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Lake Preston High2024Lake Preston HighSDMap-doton-LakePreston2004SDMap-doton-LakePreston
On the map

Lake Preston on the map, 1968 to 1985

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

Lake Preston on the 1968 USGS mapLake Preston on the 1985 USGS map1968Lake Preston West 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 Lake Preston.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Lake Preston

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
2002
Lake Preston Tourist Park Historic District
Lake Preston Tourist Park Historic DistrictLake Preston High SchoolFirst Methodist Episcopal Church of Lake Preston
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Art Deco1
All 3 listings
Lake Preston Tourist Park Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2002Lake Preston High SchoolBuilding · listed 2003First Methodist Episcopal Church of Lake PrestonBuilding · listed 2023

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

Lake Preston’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Preston, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Preston
1879–1882
Lake Preston
1882–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Lake Preston’s history

What year was Lake Preston founded?

The Lake Preston post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Lake Preston?

Three places: the Lake Preston Tourist Park Historic District (listed 2002), the Lake Preston High School (2003) and the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Lake Preston (2023).

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 (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.