Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1890.
The Miller post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Miller is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. 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 Miller’s 29.3 sits near the middle of its state (62% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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.
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’s Wikipedia page.
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.
1904Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Miller yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Miller is a city in and the county seat of Hand County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,349 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,489 to 1,349 (-9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereVera C. Bushfield is born here
In the archiveHand County, South Dakota (1892)
In the archiveBroadway from the north
In the archiveMiller, South Dakota
Born hereScott Heidepriem is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Miller. 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 Miller.
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 Miller’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, 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.
The Miller post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Miller is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings and 1 structure.
26% of Miller’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (6), the Library of Congress (8), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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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1909
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1940
2022
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2004