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History · White Swan Township

White Swan Township’s post office opened in 1869, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of White Swan Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1964 on.

1869first post office
1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How White Swan Township began

When was White Swan Township founded?

1869

The White Swan Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, White Swan (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 679157 years
Founding year: the first White Swan Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start White Swan Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how White Swan Township’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

White Swan Township, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1869. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 681 in 2010, 679 in 2020.

Timeline

White Swan Township, 1869 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe White Swan post office opens
  3. 1892Post officeThe White Swan post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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 album
On the map

White Swan Township on the map, 1964 to 1986

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

White Swan Township on the 1964 USGS mapWhite Swan Township on the 1977 USGS mapWhite Swan Township on the 1986 USGS map1964Fort Randall Dam 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 White Swan Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in White Swan Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Rising Hail Colony
Rising Hail Colony
Districts
All 1 listings
Rising Hail ColonyDistrict · listed 1975

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Dezera
Gone or out of use
Little Bird SchoolschoolPickstown Air Force StationmilitarySaint Francis ChurchchurchSaint Phillips Churchchurch
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside White Swan Township
Cedar PresbyterianLake ViewSaint Philip Deacon

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.

Jackson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGoose Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHighland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWahehe Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPlain Center TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about White Swan Township’s history

What year was White Swan Township founded?

The White Swan Township post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in White Swan Township?

One place: the Rising Hail Colony (listed 1975).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.