Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Leola

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Leola

Leola’s post office opened in 1883, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the McPherson County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1910.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Leola began

When was Leola founded?

1883

The Leola post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 484 in 19102020 census: 434143 years
Founding year: the first Leola post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Leola’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 Leola are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 833 in 1960; 434 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Leola’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leola’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Leola’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

Leola, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 833

Peaked at 833 in 1960; 434 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Leola, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Leola yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Leola is a small city in and the county seat of McPherson County, South Dakota, United States. It was founded on May 1, 1884, and named for Leola Haynes, daughter of one of the town's founders. The population was 434 as of the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 457 to 434 (-5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Leola, 1883 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Leola post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1928BuiltMcPherson County Courthouse is built
  5. 1933Born hereClarence Hoffman is born here
  6. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 833
  7. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Leola, decade by decade

Today3 recent
McPherson County Courthouse NRHP 86003020 McPherson County, SD2015McPherson County Courthouse NRHP 86003020 McPherson C…Free Workshop- Range Drought Meeting on Mar 28, 2013, in2013Free Workshop- Range Drought Meeting on Mar 28, 2013,…SDMap-doton-Leola2004SDMap-doton-Leola
On the map

Leola on the map, 1970 to 1985

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

Leola on the 1970 USGS mapLeola on the 1985 USGS map1970Leola 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 Leola.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Leola

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
1986
McPherson County Courthouse
McPherson County Courthouse, built 1928
Buildings
McPherson County CourthouseBuilt 1928

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

Questions about Leola’s history

What year was Leola founded?

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

What is on the National Register in Leola?

One place: the McPherson County Courthouse (listed 1986).

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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.