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History · Norris Township

Norris Township’s post office opened in 1909

Most of Norris Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1969 on.

1909first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Norris Township began

When was Norris Township founded?

1909

The Norris Township post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 183117 years
Founding year: the first Norris Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Norris Township’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 Norris Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Norris Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Norris Township’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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The story so far

Norris Township, in brief

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

Norris is an unincorporated community in Mellette County, South Dakota, United States. It is not specifically tracked by the Census Bureau, but is included in the census-designated place of the same name. The population of the CDP was 150 at the 2020 census. Norris has a post office that serves the 57560 ZIP code area. The zip code includes the town of Corn Creek. Norris was laid out in 1910 and named after a nephew of the town's merchant.

Its first post office opened in 1909. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 189 to 183 (-3%).

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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Norris Township on the map, 1969 to 1983

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

Norris Township on the 1969 USGS mapNorris Township on the 1983 USGS map1969Norris 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 Norris Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Norris Township

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

See all →
V
Vine Deloria, Jr.Standing Rock Sioux author, lawyer, seminarian,… · b. 1933
J
Jay NovacekPlayer of American football · b. 1962
J
J.R. RigginsAmerican politician
N
Nellie Star Boy MenardSicangu Lakota [Rosebud Sioux] quiltmaker · b. 1910
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Norris
Gone or out of use
Black Pipe Issue Stationlocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Norris Township
NorrisPoor ThunderSacred Heart

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Blackpipe TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorrisIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Norris Township’s history

What year was Norris Township founded?

The Norris Township post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.