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History · Lyons Township

Lyons Township’s post office opened in 1881, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1962 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lyons Township began

When was Lyons Township founded?

1881

The Lyons Township post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Skunk Lake (1873) and West Point (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 599145 years
Founding year: the first Lyons Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lyons Township’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 Lyons Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lyons Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lyons Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lyons Township’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Skunk Lake
1873–1881
West Point
1880–1900
Lyons
1881–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lyons
Gone or out of use
LyonslocaleWest Pointlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lyons Township
LyonsWest Nidaros Lutheran Church

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

The story so far

Lyons Township, in brief

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

Lyons is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Minnehaha County, South Dakota, United States. The CDP had a population of 70 at the 2020 census. Lyons has been assigned the ZIP code of 57041. Lyons was laid out in 1886, and named after Lyons Township.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 613 to 599 (-2%).

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

Timeline

Lyons Township, 1873 to 1962

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Skunk Lake post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe West Point post office opens
  4. 1881Post officeThe Skunk Lake post office closes
  5. 1881Post officeThe Lyons post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900Post officeThe West Point post office closes
  8. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Lyons Township on the map, 1962 to 1985

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

Lyons Township on the 1962 USGS mapLyons Township on the 1971 USGS mapLyons Township on the 1985 USGS map1962Crooks 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 Lyons Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Lyons Township

Nobody well known was born in Lyons Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
January JonesAmerican actress · b. 1978
Michael E. FossumAmerican astronaut · b. 1957
Shayna BaszlerAmerican mixed martial artist and professional … · b. 1980
Thomas GullicksonCatholic archbishop · b. 1950
Larry PresslerU.S. politician · b. 1942
C
Christopher CainAmerican film director · b. 1943
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Sverdrup Township4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrand Meadow TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBurk Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBenton Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lyons Township’s history

What year was Lyons Township founded?

The Lyons Township post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.