The story
Read it all →How Ward came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ward.
Ward was named after James A. Ward, a railroad promoter and auditor of Dakota Territory from 1887 to 1889.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Ward
Ward’s post office opened in 1890, and 56% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1967 on and the census since 1910.
1890first post office
0on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Ward began
When was Ward founded?
1890
The Ward post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 72 in 19102020 census: 34136 years
Founding year: the first Ward post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Ward’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Ward’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ward’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Ward, census by census
Peaked at 118 in 1920; 34 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ward’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Ward, 1890 to 1985
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1890Post officeThe Ward post office opens
- 20th century
- 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 118
- 1967
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1985Post officeThe Ward 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 albumOn the map
Ward on the map, 1967 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ward. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1967Elkton sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ward.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Ward had its own post office from 1890 to 1985.
Ward
18901960today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Ward’s history
What year was Ward founded?
The Ward post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.