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History · Letcher

Letcher’s post office opened in 1882, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the St. Scholastica Catholic Church and the St. Scholastica Rectory. Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1900.

1882first post office
2on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Letcher began

When was Letcher founded?

1882

The Letcher post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 130 in 19002020 census: 159144 years
Founding year: the first Letcher post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Letcher’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 Letcher are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18993 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1986. Watch Letcher change.Boom and bustPeaked at 454 in 1920; 159 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Letcher’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Letcher’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Letcher’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
On the map

Letcher on the map, 1899 to 1986

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

Letcher on the 1899 USGS mapLetcher on the 1979 USGS mapLetcher on the 1986 USGS map1899Mitchell sheet · 1:125,000

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

People over time

Letcher, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 454

Peaked at 454 in 1920; 159 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story so far

Letcher, in brief

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

Letcher is a town in Sanborn County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 159 at the 2020 census. Letcher has the name of O. T. Letcher, a local landowner.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 173 to 159 (-8%).

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

Timeline

Letcher, 1882 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Letcher post office opens
  3. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1914Born hereMarion McDonald is born here
  6. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 454
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the National Register

2 historic places in Letcher

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
St. Scholastica Catholic Church
St. Scholastica Catholic ChurchSt. Scholastica Rectory
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Late Gothic Revival1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
American Foursquare1
All 2 listings
St. Scholastica Catholic ChurchBuilding · listed 1994St. Scholastica RectoryBuilding · listed 1994

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

Questions about Letcher’s history

What year was Letcher founded?

The Letcher 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 Letcher?

Two places: the St. Scholastica Catholic Church (listed 1994) and the St. Scholastica Rectory (1994).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.