Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Sturgis

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Sturgis

Sturgis’ post office opened in 1878, and 8 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #19 of 35 in South Dakota. What drives it

Most of Sturgis was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. 8 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 44 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.

1878first post office
8on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sturgis’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sturgis began

When was Sturgis founded?

1878

The Sturgis post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 60 in 18802020 census: 7,020148 years

How historic is Sturgis?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Sturgis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Sturgis’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sturgis is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #19 of 35 in South Dakota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sturgis’ overall grade.
Founding era1878, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19409.4% of homes (±3.7) · typical SD town 10.4% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register8 listings, 50 historic buildings, 70.6 per 10,000 residents · typical SD town 37.3 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
South Dakota towns of 2,500+ (35)Ahead of 47%

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 Sturgis’ 70.6 sits above most of its state (85% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 50 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Sturgis’ 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.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1923, drew every building in Sturgis.A historic districtThe Fort Meade District takes in 35 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register8 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sturgis’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sturgis’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 viewBuffalo soldier in five button sack coa…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Sturgis, building by building, 1885–1923

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Sturgis fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

8 listings protect 50 historic buildings

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

places listed
8
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
50
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Fort Meade District
Sturgis Commercial Block, built 1888Annie Tallent House, built 1898John G. Wenke House, built 1906Erskine School, built 1901Sturgis High SchoolStephen and Maria Graf HouseJohn and Elsie McMillan House, built 1887Fort Meade District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque1
Romanesque Revival1
Richardsonian Romanesque1
Late Gothic Revival1
Collegiate Gothic1
Prairie School1
Sturgis Commercial BlockRomanesque · Built 1888
Annie Tallent HouseBuilt 1898
John G. Wenke HouseRomanesque Revival · Built 1906
Erskine SchoolRichardsonian Romanesque · Built 1901
Sturgis High SchoolLate Gothic Revival
Stephen and Maria Graf HousePrairie School
John and Elsie McMillan HouseBuilt 1887
All 8 listings
Fort Meade DistrictDistrict · listed 1973

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

The story

How Sturgis came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sturgis.

Read it all →

Sturgis was founded in 1878. An early nickname for the town was "Scooptown." Scooptown had been an earlier settlement at the base of Bear Butte, that supplied the soldiers at Camp Sturgis an outlet for their vices. When it became apparent that Sturgis was going to be the city that supplied the newly formed Fort Meade, the occupants of Scooptown moved en masse to Sturgis and set up their shops. Sturgis was named in honor of the Civil War Union General Samuel D. Sturgis. In 1889, Sturgis was designated as the county seat of the newly formed Meade County.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sturgis, 1878 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Sturgis post office opens
  3. 1884In the archiveBuffalo soldier in five button sack coat) - J. C. H. Grabill, photographer, Sturgis, Dako…
  4. 1888BuiltSturgis Commercial Block is built
  5. 1888Born hereRex Terry is born here
  6. 1898BuiltAnnie Tallent House is built
  7. 20th century
  8. 1901BuiltErskine School is built
  9. 1906BuiltJohn G. Wenke House is built
  10. 1933Born hereCarroll Hardy is born here
  11. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1959Born hereLarry Rhoden is born here
  13. 1959Born hereMarty Jackley is born here
By decade

Sturgis, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s4 items
Buffalo soldier in five button sack coat) - J. C. H. Grabill, photographer, Sturgis, Dakota Ter1884Buffalo soldier in five button sack coat) - J. C. H. …'Freighting in the Black Hills'; a Train of Freight Wagons and Oxen in Front of a Hill1887'Freighting in the Black Hills'; a Train of Freight W…Grabill - Ox teams at1887Grabill - Ox teams at"The Cow Boy" - J.C.H. Grabill, photographer, Sturgis, Dakota Ter1888"The Cow Boy" - J.C.H. Grabill, photographer, Sturgis…
1890s–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
On the map

Sturgis on the map, 1954 to 1971

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

Sturgis on the 1954 USGS mapSturgis on the 1971 USGS map1954Sturgis 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 Sturgis.

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.

Buffalo soldier in five button sack coat) - J. C. H. Grabill, photographer, Sturgis, Dakota Ter
Retake this viewBuffalo soldier in five button sack coat) - J. C. H. Grabill, photographer, Sturgis, Dakota Ter, 1884

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Sturgis, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0007,500188019001920194019601980200020207,020

Grew from 60 people in 1880 to 7,020 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

7 famous people were born in Sturgis

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

See all →
Larry RhodenAmerican politician · b. 1959
Marty JackleyAmerican lawyer · b. 1959
Carroll HardyAmerican baseball player · b. 1933
Rex TerryAmerican politician · b. 1888
G
George W. BlairAmerican politician · b. 1921
M
Mike GreearAmerican politician
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Sturgis’s post office has been open since 1878.

Gone or out of use
Yahr Parklocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sturgis
Bear ButteSaint Aloysius

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Sturgis’ history

What year was Sturgis founded?

The Sturgis post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Sturgis rank for history?

Sturgis is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #19 of 35 in South Dakota. 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.

What is on the National Register in Sturgis?

8 listings: 6 buildings and 2 historic districts, the Sturgis Commercial Block and the Fort Meade District, with 44 contributing buildings. 50 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Sturgis?

9% of Sturgis’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 1976.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.