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History · Warner

Warner’s post office opened in 1881

Most of Warner was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1985 on and the census since 1980.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Warner began

When was Warner founded?

1881

The Warner post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 322 in 19802020 census: 485145 years
Founding year: the first Warner post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Warner’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Warner’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 Warner came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Warner.

Read it all →

Warner was established in June 1880. The town's name is derived from Warren Tarbox, a pioneer settler. Growth in Warner was primarily fueled by the expansion of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in 1881, and Great Northern Railway and the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway a few years later. This is due to the next town north, Aberdeen, being where Great Northern Railway & Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway met, giving Aberdeen the nickname "hub city".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Warner, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Warner-SD-April-2022-012022Warner-SD-April-2022-01
On the map

Warner on the map in 1985

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Warner.

Warner on the 1985 USGS map1985Aberdeen sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Warner.

People over time

Warner, census by census

0100200300400500198020002020Peak: 485

Between 322 and 485 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Warner

Nobody well known was born in Warner itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
V
Virgil BoekelheideAmerican chemist · b. 1919
LaVerne G. SaundersAmerican military officer · b. 1903
T
Tom HansenAmerican former politician · b. 1939

Questions about Warner’s history

What year was Warner founded?

The Warner post office opened in 1881, 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 (1), 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.