Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #8 of 35 in South Dakota. What drives it
25 places in town are on the National Register, among them seven historic districts with 455 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1883 on and the census since 1880.
Vermillion dates its founding to 1859 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vermillion is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #8 of 35 in South Dakota. Its National Register listings hold 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 Vermillion’s 405 sits above most of its state (96% of South Dakota towns have fewer) while its 481 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vermillion’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Vermillion.
The area has been home to Native American tribes for centuries. In the late 1700s, the Sioux nations were driven from Minnesota to Dakota, and the Yankton Sioux cultivated corn and stored supplies near where Vermillion would be founded.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltInman House is builtBuiltAustin-Whittemore House is builtBuiltOld Main is builtBuiltE. H. Willey House is built
Born hereTodd Tiahrt is born here
Born hereKevin Brady is born here
Born hereShawn Colvin is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Vermillion. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Vermillion.
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.
1883Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Grew from 714 people in 1880 to 11,695 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Vermillion’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Vermillion’s post office has been open since 1865. Another post office, Vermilion, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1859, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Vermillion’s post office opened in 1865, and the census of 1880 counted 714 people here.
Vermillion is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #8 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.
25 listings: 18 buildings, among them the Austin-Whittemore House (listed 1972, the first), 7 historic districts with 455 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 481 historic buildings in all.
15% of Vermillion’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 10% for a South Dakota town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (26), 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.
