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History · Selby

Selby’s post office opened in 1900, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Selby Opera House and the Walworth County Courthouse. Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1942 on.

1900first post office
2on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Selby’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Selby began

When was Selby founded?

1900

The Selby post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 610126 years
Founding year: the first Selby post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Selby’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Selby’s collection

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

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

How Selby came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Selby.

Read it all →

Selby sprang up with the arrival of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad to the area in 1899. The town was named for a railroad official.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Selby, 1900 to 1987

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Selby post office opens
  3. 1903Born hereGeorge T. Mickelson is born here
  4. 1909BuiltSelby Opera House is built
  5. 1911BuiltWalworth County Courthouse is built
  6. 1931Born hereJohn A. Manke is born here
  7. 1942In the archiveSelby, South Dakota
  8. 1987In the archiveStandard Gas sign
By decade

Selby, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s2 items
Selby, South Dakota1942Selby, South DakotaUntitled photo, possibly related to: Selby, South Dakota1942Untitled photo, possibly related to: Selby, South Dak…
1950s–1970snothing 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
1980s2 items
Standard Gas sign1987Standard Gas signVivian's Beauty Shop, Main Street1987Vivian's Beauty Shop, Main Street
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
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.

Selby, South Dakota
Retake this viewSelby, South Dakota, 1942

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Selby

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
Selby Opera House
Selby Opera House, built 1909Walworth County Courthouse, built 1911
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival2
Late Victorian1
Romanesque1
Selby Opera HouseClassical Revival · Built 1909
Walworth County CourthouseClassical Revival · Built 1911

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Selby

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

See all →
George T. MickelsonUnited States federal judge and Governor of Sou… · b. 1903
J
John A. MankeAmerican test pilot and aerospace engineer · b. 1931

Questions about Selby’s history

What year was Selby founded?

The Selby post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Selby?

Two places: the Selby Opera House (listed 1987) and the Walworth County Courthouse (1999).

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 (2), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.