Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Peter and Minnie Monfore House and the Main Hall. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1918 on.
The Springfield post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Springfield is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Springfield’s 9.8 sits near the middle of its state (44% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Springfield’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Springfield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1870. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,989 to 1,914 (-4%).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltPeter and Minnie Monfore House is built
In the archiveIndian women feed chickens in front of chicken house at Springfield, South Dakota, Indian…One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Springfield’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Springfield’s post office has been open since 1870.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Springfield post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Springfield is more historic than 69% 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.
Two places: the Peter and Minnie Monfore House (listed 2002) and the Main Hall (1981).
41% of Springfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.1 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 1955.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
1918
2010
2010
2004