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History · Wall

Wall’s post office opened in 1907, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1960 on, and the census since 1910.

1907first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wall’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wall began

When was Wall founded?

1907

The Wall post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1908.

First census: 167 in 19102020 census: 699119 years
Founding year: the first Wall post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1908.The full story ↓

What stands out about Wall’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wall’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSunset at Wall, South Dakota: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Wall came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wall.

Read it all →

Wall was platted in 1907 when the Chicago and North Western Railroad was extended to that point. The town was incorporated in 1908. Wall was named for the "natural wall" in rock formations by the Badlands National Park.

The town is most famous for the Wall Drug Store, which opened as a small pharmacy in 1931 during the Depression, located at that time on Route 16A. The store eventually developed into a large roadside tourist attraction.

The National Grasslands Visitor Center is also located in Wall.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wall, 1907 to 1960

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Post officeThe Wall post office opens
  3. 1936In the archiveSunset at Wall, South Dakota
  4. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Wall, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Sunset at Wall, South Dakota1936Sunset at Wall, South Dakota
1940s–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
Today5 recent
Wall Drug billboard: "Free Ice Water," Wall, South Dakota2009Wall Drug billboard: "Free Ice Water," Wall, South Da…Cowboy scene2009Cowboy sceneWall South Dakota Post office 2009-04-212009Wall South Dakota Post office 2009-04-21WoundedKneeMuseumWallSD2008WoundedKneeMuseumWallSDUntitled photo2007Untitled photo
On the map

Wall on the map, 1960 to 1980

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

Wall on the 1960 USGS mapWall on the 1980 USGS map1960Wall 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 Wall.

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.

Sunset at Wall, South Dakota
Retake this viewSunset at Wall, South Dakota, 1936

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Wall, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 834

Between 167 and 834 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Fairview Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake Hill TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake Flat TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Wall’s history

What year was Wall founded?

The Wall post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1908.

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), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.