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History · Ola Township

Ola Township’s post office opened in 1881

Below: maps from 1979 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Ola Township began

When was Ola Township founded?

1881

The Ola Township post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Ola (1881) and Ployd (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 121145 years
Founding year: the first Ola Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Ola 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 Ola Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ola Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ola Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ola Township’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ola
1881–1917
Ployd
1881–1894
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Ola
Gone or out of use
OlalocalePloydlocale
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ola Township
Amunid Emmanual LutheranGerman LutheranSaint Procopius ChurchSaint Vencels Bohemian NationalSwedish Lutheran

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

The story so far

Ola Township, in brief

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

Ola is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Brule County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 15 according to the 2020 census. The CDP is located in southern Brule County, 2 miles (3 km) west of South Dakota Highway 50 and 12 miles (19 km) south of Interstate 90.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 107 to 121 (+13%).

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

Timeline

Ola Township, 1881 to 1979

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Ola post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Ployd post office opens
  4. 1894Post officeThe Ployd post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1917Post officeThe Ola post office closes
  7. 1979On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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

Ola Township on the map, 1979 to 1986

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

Ola Township on the 1979 USGS mapOla Township on the 1986 USGS map1979Red Lake East 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 Ola Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Richland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRed Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAmerica TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOlaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Ola Township’s history

What year was Ola Township founded?

The Ola Township post office opened in 1881, 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.