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History · Worthing

Worthing’s post office opened in 1879, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1897 on and the census since 1900.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Worthing began

When was Worthing founded?

1879

The Worthing post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 213 in 19002020 census: 927147 years
Founding year: the first Worthing post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Worthing’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 Worthing are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18974 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1985. Watch Worthing change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Worthing’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Worthing’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
On the map

Worthing on the map, 1897 to 1985

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

Worthing on the 1897 USGS mapWorthing on the 1900 USGS mapWorthing on the 1964 USGS mapWorthing on the 1985 USGS map1897Canton sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Worthing came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Worthing.

Read it all →

Worthing was laid out in 1879, and named after a railroad employee.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Worthing, 1879 to 1924

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Worthing post office opens
  3. 1897On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1924Born hereVivien Alcock is born here
By decade

Worthing, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Worthing, South Dakota 62010Worthing, South Dakota 6Worthing, South Dakota 52010Worthing, South Dakota 5SDMap-doton-Worthing2004SDMap-doton-Worthing
People over time

Worthing, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020927

Grew from 213 people in 1900 to 927 in 2020, 4 times over.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Worthing’s history

What year was Worthing founded?

The Worthing post office opened in 1879, 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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.