Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns · #12 of 35 in South Dakota. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1890.
Milbank dates its founding to 1880 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1890.
Milbank was named in honor of railroad director Jeremiah Milbank.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Milbank is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #12 of 35 in South Dakota. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
South Dakota towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical South Dakota town has 37.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Milbank’s 17.0 sits near the middle of its state (54% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 6 listings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Milbank’s post office has been open since 1903. Two other post offices 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Milbank.
The city was founded in 1880 when the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway first laid rails into South Dakota. It was named in honor of railroad director Jeremiah Milbank. The city was incorporated in 1881.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltHollands Grist Mill is builtBuiltEmil and Hannah Johnson House is builtBuiltFirst National Bank of Milbank is builtBuiltMilbank Carnegie Library is built
In the archiveBroadway from the south, Miller, S. Dak
Born hereJack Manders is born here
In the archiveHigh School
Born herePhil Saunders is born here
In the archiveOld Dutch Mill at Milbank, S. D (79810)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Milbank. 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 Milbank.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Milbank’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,207 and 4,120 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Milbank’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1880, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Milbank’s post office opened in 1879, and the census of 1890 counted 1,207 people here.
Milbank is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #12 of 35 in South Dakota. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the First Congregational Church of Milbank (listed 1978, the first), and 1 structure.
26% of Milbank’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 1972.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (7), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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