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History · Mina

Mina’s post office opened in 1909

Most of Mina was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1899 on.

1909first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mina’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mina began

When was Mina founded?

1909

The Mina post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 554117 years
Founding year: the first Mina post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mina’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.On the map since 18993 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1985. Watch Mina change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mina’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMina, South Dakota (vicinity.) National…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Mina on the map, 1899 to 1985

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

Mina on the 1899 USGS mapMina on the 1970 USGS mapMina on the 1985 USGS map1899Northville 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 Mina.

The story

How Mina came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mina.

Read it all →

A post office called Mina was established in 1909, and remained in operation until 1983. The community most likely was named after Mina Erling, the daughter of a railroad official.

In 1999, a Learjet carrying PGA golfer Payne Stewart and five other people (including two pilots and three passengers) crashed in a field about a mile south of Mina. All were allegedly dead from a lack of oxygen long before the crash.

Chapters1999 Learjet crash

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Mina, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Mina, South Dakota (vicinity.) National Manufacturers Association signboard1942Mina, South Dakota (vicinity.) National Manufacturers…
1950s–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
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.

Mina, South Dakota (vicinity.) National Manufacturers Association signboard
Retake this viewMina, South Dakota (vicinity.) National Manufacturers Association signboard, 1942

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Mina

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

See all →
Donald Lester JacksonAmerican politician · b. 1910
Everett S. HughesUnited States Army general · b. 1885
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Cortlandt TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMercier TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Mina’s history

What year was Mina founded?

The Mina post office opened in 1909, 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 the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.