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History · Goodwill

Goodwill’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Goodwill. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Goodwill is an unincorporated community and former census-designated place (CDP) in Roberts County, South Dakota, United States. Prior to the 2020 Census, the CDP was merged into the Agency Village census-designated place. Over 90% of the population is Native American.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 844 to 933 (+11%). Half of its homes were built before 1981.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Goodwill yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Goodwill’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Goodwill’s history is told.

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from GoodwillWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Goodwill.Meet them →
By decade

Goodwill, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Goodwill is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Goodwill has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Sisseton Agency Headquarters & Wacipi Grounds in Agency, 3.2 miles away.

Goodwill and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Goodwill. Tap a dot.
Sisseton Agency Headquarters & Wacipi GroundsAndrew and Mary Stavig HouseRoberts County CourthouseSisseton SchoolSisseton Carnegie LibraryLouis Nigg Barn

Closest to Goodwill

Sisseton Agency Headquarters & Wacipi GroundsAgency · Site3.2miAndrew and Mary Stavig HouseSisseton · Built 19164.5miRoberts County CourthouseSisseton · Building4.6miSisseton SchoolSisseton · Building4.7miSisseton Carnegie LibrarySisseton · Built 19164.8mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Sisseton Agency Headquarters & Wacipi Grounds’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Goodwill?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Goodwill’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Sisseton📜 Dry Wood Lake📜 Agency📜 Peever
The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Goodwill, SDRoberts CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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