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History · Wanblee

Wanblee’s post office opened in 1915, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1950 on.

1915first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Wanblee began

When was Wanblee founded?

1915

The Wanblee post office opened in 1915, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wambalee (1915), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 674111 years
Founding year: the first Wanblee post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Wanblee’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wanblee’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
The story so far

Wanblee, in brief

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

Wanblee (Lakota: Waŋblí Hoȟpi; "Golden Eagle Nest") is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, located in Jackson County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 674 at the 2020 census, virtually all of whom are members of the Oglala tribe of Lakota Sioux. Wanbli is the Lakota word for eagle, and the town was named for its proximity to Wanbli hohpi paha (Eagle Nest Butte). Wanblee is a few miles directly northeast of the North American continental pole of inaccessibility. The 1992 movie Thunderheart was partly filmed in Wanblee. It appeared as an unnamed town on the fictional Bear Creek Reservation, for which is actually located on the Pine Ridge Indian…

Its first post office opened in 1915. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 725 to 674 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Wanblee, 1915 to 1950

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1915Post officeThe Wambalee post office opens
  3. 1915Post officeThe Wambalee post office closes
  4. 1915Post officeThe Wanblee post office opens
  5. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Wanblee, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Wanblee, SD2022Wanblee, SDWanblee, South Dakota2005Wanblee, South DakotaSDMap-doton-Wanblee2004SDMap-doton-Wanblee
On the map

Wanblee on the map, 1950 to 1980

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

Wanblee on the 1950 USGS mapWanblee on the 1979 USGS mapWanblee on the 1980 USGS map1950Wanblee 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 Wanblee.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Wanblee’s post office has been open since 1915. Another post office, Wambalee, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wambalee
1915–1915
Wanblee
1915–today
19101970today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Wanblee
Catholic MissionGethsemane

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

Questions about Wanblee’s history

What year was Wanblee founded?

The Wanblee post office opened in 1915, 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 →
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), 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.