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–Not graded
History · Miller Township

28% of Miller Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1890.

0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Miller 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,148 in 1970; 1,349 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Miller Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Miller Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHand County, South Dakota (1892): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Miller Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,148

Peaked at 2,148 in 1970; 1,349 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story so far

Miller Township, in brief

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

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 219 to 177 (-19%).

Timeline

Miller Township, 1887 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Burch post office opens
  3. 1892In the archiveHand County, South Dakota (1892)
  4. 20th century
  5. 1912Post officeThe Burch post office closes
  6. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 2,148
By decade

Miller Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Hand County, South Dakota (1892)1892Hand County, South Dakota (1892)
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today7 recent
USPS - Post Office - Miller - South Dakota2022USPS - Post Office - Miller - South DakotaKessler's - Your Hometown Grocery - Grocery Store - Miller - South Dakota2022Kessler's - Your Hometown Grocery - Grocery Store - M…Holiday Gas Station - Miller - South Dakota2022Holiday Gas Station - Miller - South DakotaHand County Courthouse - Miller - South Dakota2022Hand County Courthouse - Miller - South DakotaFirst Presbyterian Church - Miller - South Dakota2022First Presbyterian Church - Miller - South DakotaRanchers Workshop Feb 5 in2014Ranchers Workshop Feb 5 inSDMap-doton-Miller2004SDMap-doton-Miller
On the map

Miller Township on the map, 1956 to 1979

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

Miller Township on the 1956 USGS mapMiller Township on the 1979 USGS map1956Britton 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 Miller Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hand County, South Dakota (1892)
Retake this viewHand County, South Dakota (1892), 1892

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Miller Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Burch, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
West Britton
Gone or out of use
Burchlocale
1cemetery inside Miller Township
Britton

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Stena TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPleasant Valley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNewark TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLowell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Miller Township’s history

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 (8), 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.