The story
Read it all →How Wilmot came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Wilmot.
Wilmot, as well as Brookings, were named for Wilmot Brookings, who was provisional governor of the Dakota Territory.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Wilmot
Wilmot’s post office opened in 1881, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1900.
1881first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Wilmot began
When was Wilmot founded?
1881
The Wilmot post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 352 in 19002020 census: 432145 years
Founding year: the first Wilmot post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Wilmot’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 Wilmot’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wilmot’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
Wilmot, census by census
Peaked at 628 in 1940; 432 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wilmot’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Wilmot, 1881 to 1971
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1881Post officeThe Wilmot post office opens
- 20th century
- 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 628
- 1971
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Wilmot, decade by decade
2014
2008
2004On the map
Wilmot on the map, 1971 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wilmot. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1971Wilmot 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 Wilmot.
Every building
Wilmot, building by building, 1904
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1904Sheet 1 of 1Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Wilmot’s history
What year was Wilmot founded?
The Wilmot 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.
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.