Most of Mission was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1969 on, and the census since 1940.
Founding year: the first Mission post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1915.
History grade
What drives Mission’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mission is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mission’s overall grade.
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 Mission’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (15% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1915 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 →
The story so far
Mission, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mission yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Mission is a city on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in northern Todd County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,156 at the 2020 census. Mission is home of the Sinte Gleska University. It is the largest incorporated community in the county, but is smaller than the unincorporated community of Rosebud, the capital of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Mission is named for one of the many missions established by religious groups in the late 19th century to educate and assist the Sicangu Lakota (Rosebud Sioux) and other Native American people. The major economic center of the county, it is located at the junction of U.S. routes 18 and 83. The city contains part of the Oyate Trail, the headq…
Its first post office opened in 1912. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,182 to 1,156 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Mission, 1912 to 1969
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Mission post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1915.
How does Mission rank for history?
Mission is more historic than 9% 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.
How old are the homes in Mission?
4% of Mission’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (6), 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.
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