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History · Newell

Newell’s post office opened in 1910, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Belle Fourche Experiment Farm and the William G. Kenaston House. Its Register listings are the Belle Fourche Experiment Farm and the William G. Kenaston House. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1920.

1910first post office
2on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Newell began

When was Newell founded?

1910

The Newell post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 414 in 19202020 census: 584116 years
Founding year: the first Newell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Newell’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 Newell are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 797 in 1960; 584 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Newell’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Newell’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Newell, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 797

Peaked at 797 in 1960; 584 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

Newell, in brief

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

Newell is a city in Butte County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 584 at the 2020 census. Newell was laid out in 1910. The city has the name of F. H. Newell, director of the United States Reclamation Service.

Its first post office opened in 1910. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 603 to 584 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Newell, 1906 to 1960

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1910Post officeThe Newell post office opens
  4. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 797
By decade

Newell, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Newell, Butte County2026Newell, Butte CountyNeil Young on chopper2008Neil Young on chopperSDMap-doton-Newell2004SDMap-doton-Newell
On the map

Newell on the map, 1906 to 1951

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

Newell on the 1906 USGS mapNewell on the 1951 USGS map1906Vale 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 Newell.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Newell

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Belle Fourche Experiment Farm
William G. Kenaston House
Buildings
All 2 listings
Belle Fourche Experiment FarmBuilding · listed 1976William G. Kenaston HouseBuilding · listed 1984

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Newell

Nobody well known was born in Newell 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
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Newell’s post office has been open since 1910.

Gone or out of use
Newell Airfieldairport

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

Questions about Newell’s history

What year was Newell founded?

The Newell post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Newell?

Two places: the Belle Fourche Experiment Farm (listed 1976) and the William G. Kenaston House (1984).

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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.