The story
Read it all →How Presho came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Presho.
Presho was laid out in 1905, and named in honor of J. S. Presho, a cattleman.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Presho
Presho’s post office opened in 1891, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Edgar Vernon House. Below: maps from 1978 on and the census since 1910.
1891first post office
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
How Presho began
When was Presho founded?
1891
The Presho post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1910.
First census: 635 in 19102020 census: 472135 years
Founding year: the first Presho post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1910.The full story ↓
What stands out about Presho’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Presho’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Presho’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Presho, census by census
Peaked at 922 in 1970; 472 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Presho’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Presho, 1891 to 1978
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Presho, decade by decade
2016
2016
2004On the map
Presho on the map, 1978 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Presho. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1978Presho sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Presho.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Presho
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
1978
Edgar Vernon House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Victorian1
All 1 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Presho
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Presho’s history
What year was Presho founded?
The Presho post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1910.
What is on the National Register in Presho?
One place: the Edgar Vernon House (listed 1978).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.