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History · Ree Heights

Ree Heights’ post office opened in 1882, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1930.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Ree Heights began

When was Ree Heights founded?

1882

The Ree Heights post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 339 in 19302020 census: 59144 years
Founding year: the first Ree Heights post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ree Heights’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Ree Heights’ homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ree Heights’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHand County, South Dakota (1892): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Ree Heights came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ree Heights.

Read it all →

Ree Heights was laid out in 1882. The town was named after the Arikara (Ree) Indians. A post office in Ree Heights has been in operation since 1882.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ree Heights, 1882 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Ree Heights post office opens
  3. 1892In the archiveHand County, South Dakota (1892)
  4. 20th century
  5. 1921Born hereRiley Gardner is born here
  6. 1922Born hereRoger R. Moore is born here
  7. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Ree Heights, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Hand County, South Dakota (1892)1892Hand County, South Dakota (1892)
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
March 29 Info Show at2016March 29 Info Show atInfo Show March 30 at2015Info Show March 30 atSoil Health to be Featured at Info Show April 2 at2013Soil Health to be Featured at Info Show April 2 atSDMap-doton-ReeHeights2004SDMap-doton-ReeHeights
On the map

Ree Heights on the map, 1950 to 1985

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

Ree Heights on the 1950 USGS mapRee Heights on the 1985 USGS map1950Ree Heights 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 Ree Heights.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hand County, South Dakota (1892)
Retake this viewHand County, South Dakota (1892), 1892

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ree Heights’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ree Heights, census by census

010020030019401960198020002020Peak: 339

Between 59 and 339 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Ree Heights

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Riley GardnerAmerican psychologist · b. 1921
Roger R. MooreAmerican politician · b. 1922

Questions about Ree Heights’ history

What year was Ree Heights founded?

The Ree Heights post office opened in 1882, 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 →
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 (5), 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.