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History · Murdo

Murdo’s post office opened in 1906, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Murdo State Bank. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1972 on, and the census since 1910.

1906first post office
1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Murdo’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Murdo began

When was Murdo founded?

1906

The Murdo post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1907.

First census: 372 in 19102020 census: 475120 years
Founding year: the first Murdo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1907.The full story ↓

What stands out about Murdo’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 865 in 1970; 475 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · People over time

Murdo, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 865

Peaked at 865 in 1970; 475 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Murdo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Murdo.

Read it all →

Murdo was founded in about 1907 by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. As about halfway between Rapid City and Mitchell, Murdo was home to a roundhouse and a railyard, and a passenger station which served trains bound for Rapid City and Mitchell, until the discontinuation of the Sioux passenger train. The town was named in honor of cattle baron Murdo MacKenzie. United States Senator John Thune is from Murdo, South Dakota.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Murdo, 1906 to 1972

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Post officeThe Murdo post office opens
  3. 1930In the archiveMack's Café, uptown in Murdo, South Dakota (88566)
  4. 1940In the archiveMurdo, South Dakota
  5. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 865
  6. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Murdo, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s–1940s6 items
Mack's Café, uptown in Murdo, South Dakota (88566)c. 1930Mack's Café, uptown in Murdo, South Dakota (88566)Murdo, South Dakota1940Murdo, South DakotaMurdo, South Dakota1940Murdo, South DakotaHouse1940HouseUntitled photo, possibly related to: Murdo, South Dakota1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Murdo, South Dak…Untitled photo, possibly related to: House1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: House
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
Today12 recent
You see the strangest things in the South Dakota countryside, near2009You see the strangest things in the South Dakota coun…Windmill detail, 1880 Town2009Windmill detail, 1880 TownOld Radio Shack2009Old Radio ShackMurdo, South Dakota2009Murdo, South Dakota1880 Town20091880 Town1880 Town20091880 Town1880 Town20091880 Town1880 Town20091880 Town1880 Town20091880 TownUS 83 South at I-902008US 83 South at I-90Commercial district2008Commercial districtSDMap-doton-Murdo2004SDMap-doton-Murdo
On the map

Murdo on the map, 1972 to 1985

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

Murdo on the 1972 USGS mapMurdo on the 1985 USGS map1972Murdo 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 Murdo.

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.

Mack's Café, uptown in Murdo, South Dakota (88566)
Retake this viewMack's Café, uptown in Murdo, South Dakota (88566), c. 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Murdo

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
2015
Murdo State Bank
Murdo State Bank
Buildings
Murdo State BankBuilding

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

Help out

Finish Murdo’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMack's Café, uptown in Murdo, South Dak…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Buffalo Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Murdo’s history

What year was Murdo founded?

The Murdo post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1907.

What is on the National Register in Murdo?

One place: the Murdo State Bank (listed 2015).

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 (13), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.