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History · Vivian Township

Vivian Township’s post office opened in 1906, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1972 on.

1906first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Gail Fisher · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Vivian Township began

When was Vivian Township founded?

1906

The Vivian Township post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Moore (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 113120 years
Founding year: the first Vivian Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Vivian 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 Vivian Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vivian Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Vivian Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vivian Township.

Read it all →

The community is named after Vivian Hunter, the wife of an official of the Milwaukee railroad. Norman Rudolph Prahl (1919-1996), Minnesota state legislator, was born in Vivian.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vivian Township, 1891 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Moore post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906Post officeThe Moore post office closes
  5. 1906Post officeThe Vivian post office opens
  6. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Vivian Township, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Record hailstone2010Record hailstoneDowntown Vivian South Dakota 12-01-20102010Downtown Vivian South Dakota 12-01-2010SDMap-doton-Vivian2004SDMap-doton-Vivian
On the map

Vivian Township on the map, 1972 to 1985

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

Vivian Township on the 1972 USGS mapVivian Township on the 1985 USGS map1972Vivian 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 Vivian Township.

Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Moore, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Moore
1891–1906
Vivian
1906–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Vivian
Gone or out of use
Vivian Landing Stripairport
1cemetery inside Vivian Township
Vivian

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Williams Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMussman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Vivian Township’s history

What year was Vivian Township founded?

The Vivian Township post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.