The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusWanblee (Lakota: Waŋblí Hoȟpi; "Golden Eagle Nest") is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, located in Jackson County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 674 at the 2020 census, virtually all of whom are members of the Oglala tribe of Lakota Sioux. Wanbli is the Lakota word for eagle, and the town was named for its proximity to Wanbli hohpi paha (Eagle Nest Butte). Wanblee is a few miles directly northeast of the North American continental pole of inaccessibility. The 1992 movie Thunderheart was partly filmed in Wanblee. It appeared as an unnamed town on the fictional Bear Creek Reservation, for which is actually located on the Pine Ridge Indian…
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 725 to 674 (-7%). Half of its homes were built before 1978.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Wanblee 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.
Start Wanblee’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wanblee’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Wanblee, decade by decade
2000
Nothing in Wanblee is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Wanblee has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad Depot in Kadoka, 19.5 miles away.
Wanblee and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.
Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (3). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.