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–Not graded
History · Summit

Summit’s post office opened in 1892, and 53% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1892 on.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
53%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Summit’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Summit began

When was Summit founded?

1892

The Summit post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1897.

2020 census: 288134 years
Founding year: the first Summit post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1897.The full story ↓

What stands out about Summit’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Summit’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Summit’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Summit’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 viewLois Dunn and children (ca 1892): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Summit came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Summit.

Read it all →

Summit was laid out in 1892, and was so named on account of the town site's lofty elevation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Summit, 1892 to 1897

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892In the archiveLois Dunn and children (ca 1892)
  3. 1892Born hereEverett Dunn is born here
  4. 1892Post officeThe Summit post office opens
  5. 1894Born hereWendell E. Dunn is born here
  6. 1897Born hereErnest P. Anderson is born here
By decade

Summit, decade by decade

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

1890s1 item
Lois Dunn and children (ca 1892)c. 1892Lois Dunn and children (ca 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
Today2 recent
Feb 24, 2016 Soil Health Workshop2016Feb 24, 2016 Soil Health WorkshopSDMap-doton-Summit2004SDMap-doton-Summit
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.

Lois Dunn and children (ca 1892)
Retake this viewLois Dunn and children (ca 1892), c. 1892

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

3 famous people were born in Summit

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

See all →
E
Everett DunnCivil engineer · b. 1892
W
Wendell E. DunnAmerican educator · b. 1894
E
Ernest P. AndersonAmerican politician – Minnesota -- "Ernie" Sena… · b. 1897
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Summit TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Summit’s history

What year was Summit founded?

The Summit post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1897.

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 (3), 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.