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History · Mountain Plains

1 of Mountain Plains’ places is on the National Register

Its Register listing is the Spearfish Post Office (Old). Most of Mountain Plains was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: maps from 1900 on.

1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Mountain Plains’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mountain Plains are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19004 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1971. Watch Mountain Plains change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mountain Plains’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Mountain Plains on the map, 1900 to 1971

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

Mountain Plains on the 1900 USGS mapMountain Plains on the 1915 USGS mapMountain Plains on the 1961 USGS mapMountain Plains on the 1971 USGS map1900Spearfish sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mountain Plains.

The story so far

Mountain Plains, in brief

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

Mountain Plains is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 327 at the 2020 census. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. It is in the northern part of the county, on the northern edge of the Black Hills. It is bordered to the north by the city of Spearfish. U.S. Route 14A forms the eastern edge of the CDP, following the canyon of Spearfish Creek.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the National Register

1 historic place in Mountain Plains

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1999
Spearfish Post Office (Old)
Spearfish Post Office (Old), built 1940
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Neo-Classical1
Spearfish Post Office (Old)Neo-Classical · Built 1940

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Mountain Plains

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

See all →
Amy HillAmerican character actress · b. 1953
Dorothy ProvineAmerican singer, dancer, and actress · b. 1935
John MiljanAmerican actor · b. 1892
Larry RhodenAmerican politician · b. 1959
Alfred L. WerkerAmerican film director · b. 1896
Jason KubelAmerican baseball player · b. 1982
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Spearfish29 historic placesB

Questions about Mountain Plains’ history

What is on the National Register in Mountain Plains?

One place: the Spearfish Post Office (Old) (listed 1999).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.