Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Sverdrup Township

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
–Not graded
History · Sverdrup Township

Sverdrup Township’s post office opened in 1885, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Sverdrup Township was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 8 buildings between them.

1885first post office
4on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Sverdrup Township began

When was Sverdrup Township founded?

1885

The Sverdrup Township post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Pennington (1874) and Sverdrup (1885), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 926141 years
Founding year: the first Sverdrup Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sverdrup Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Sverdrup Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Sverdrup Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sverdrup Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Pennington
1874–1901
Sverdrup
1885–1898
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
MidwayMorefield
Gone or out of use
PenningtonlocaleSaint Olaflocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sverdrup Township
East Nidaros LutheranPioneer

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

On the National Register

4 historic places in Sverdrup Township

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
2000
South Dakota Department of Transportation Bridg…
South Dakota Department of Transportation Bridge No. 50-193-086South Dakota Dept. of Trans. Bridge No. 50-196-104Willow Grove FarmSlip Up Creek Homestead
DistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Pratt through truss2
WPA1
Gable-Entry Bank Barn1
Wisconsin Dairy Barn1
All 4 listings
South Dakota Department of Transportation Bridge No. 50-193-086Structure · listed 2000South Dakota Dept. of Trans. Bridge No. 50-196-104Structure · listed 2000Willow Grove FarmDistrict · listed 2003Slip Up Creek HomesteadDistrict · listed 2003

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

The story so far

Sverdrup Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sverdrup Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Its first post office opened in 1885. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 809 to 926 (+14%).

Timeline

Sverdrup Township, 1874 to 1901

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Pennington post office opens
  3. 1885Post officeThe Sverdrup post office opens
  4. 1898Post officeThe Sverdrup post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901Post officeThe Pennington post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

BalticIts storyC−Lyons TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDell Rapids Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMapleton Township2 historic placesB−Edison TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sverdrup Township’s history

What year was Sverdrup Township founded?

The Sverdrup Township post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Sverdrup Township?

4 listings: 2 historic districts, the Willow Grove Farm and the Slip Up Creek Homestead, with 8 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 8 historic buildings in all.

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 the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.