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History · New Effington

New Effington dates to 1913, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the New Effington Hospital. Below: maps from 1917 on and the census since 1920.

1913founded
1on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How New Effington began

When was New Effington founded?

1913

New Effington dates its founding to 1913 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 305 in 19202020 census: 234113 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1892.

What stands out about New Effington’s 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 New Effington are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 367 in 1950; 234 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of New Effington’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start New Effington’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Effington’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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People over time

New Effington, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 367

Peaked at 367 in 1950; 234 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

New Effington, in brief

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

New Effington is a town in Roberts County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 234 at the 2020 census. In 1965 the high school team won the district basketball tournament in Sisseton. As part of a school approved event and classroom project, the senior class of 1965 held a memorial tribute north of the school for Nevermore, the class pet raven. New Effington was laid out in 1913, after a proposed railroad further away from the original city Effington spurred the need to move the town. Needing a new name they simply added "New", the original being a reference to one of the first women (named Ellie) to get a homestead in the original town.

New Effington was established in 1913. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 256 to 234 (-9%).

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

Timeline

New Effington, 1892 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Effington post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1913
    FoundingNew Effington is established
  5. 1915BuiltNew Effington Hospital is built
  6. 1916Post officeThe Effington post office closes
  7. 1916Post officeThe New Effington post office opens
  8. 1917On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 367
By decade

New Effington, decade by decade

Today3 recent
New Effington Hospital2014New Effington HospitalWahpeton-Sisseton map sign2008Wahpeton-Sisseton map signMapSDMap-doton-NewEffington2004SDMap-doton-NewEffington
On the map

New Effington on the map, 1917 to 1972

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

New Effington on the 1917 USGS mapNew Effington on the 1972 USGS map1917New Effington 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 New Effington.

On the National Register

1 historic place in New Effington

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
1989
New Effington Hospital
New Effington Hospital, built 1915
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
New Effington HospitalLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements · Built 1915

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

New Effington’s post office has been open since 1916. Another post office, Effington, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Effington
1892–1916
New Effington
1916–today
18901960today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about New Effington’s history

What year was New Effington founded?

In 1913, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. New Effington’s post office opened in 1892, and the census of 1920 counted 305 people here.

What is on the National Register in New Effington?

One place: the New Effington Hospital (listed 1989).

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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.