Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1882.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Parkston’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Parkston is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Parkston’s overall grade.
South Dakota towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical South Dakota town has 37.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Parkston’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (15% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 points). Two sources give 1886.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Parkston’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The city was named for R. S. Parke, a landowner. Parkston was founded in 1886. The first store to be moved from Dakota City to Parkston was the (A.F.) Gimm and (Frank) Weidman's store. Dakota City was moved mostly moved to Parkston by June 25, 1886. Parkston consisted of six or eight general stores, three or four hardware stores, four machine dealers, and a variety of other stores being brought into Parkston. During the first month of Parkston's existence, an average of one building per day was being put up. By November 1886, the town's population had risen to 100 people.
In 1886, according to Wikidata. Parkston’s post office opened in 1882.
How does Parkston rank for history?
Parkston is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Parkston?
22% of Parkston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 1968.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
2004