Lake County, South Dakota

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Lake County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,059.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is Madison.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The county was formed in 1873.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Lake County, South Dakota, was inhabited by the Sisseton Sioux when explorers, including Joseph Nicollet and John C. Fremont, first mapped the region in 1838–39 and noted its numerous lakes.<ref name="Robinson">Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota (B.F. Bowen & Co., 1904), 136.</ref><ref name="HistorySD">History of Southeastern Dakota, Its Settlement and Growth (Sioux City, Iowa: Western Publishing Company, 1881), 190–192.</ref> The 1851 Treaty of Mendota with the Santee Sioux and 1858 Yankton Treaty opened the area for American settlement.<ref name="Robinson" /> The 1857 rescue of Mrs. Marble from among the captives of the Spirit Lake Massacre brought early non-Sioux attention to the area.<ref name="Robinson" />

Permanent settlement began in 1870 when William Lee and Charles Walker established homesteads near Lake Madison, naming the town Madison after Madison, Wisconsin.<ref name="HistorySD" /> Lake County was created on January 8, 1873, named for its many lakes, and organized on September 1, 1873, with Old Madison as the county seat.<ref name="HistorySD" /> Brisk settlement followed in 1878 amidst the Dakota Boom, and the railroad’s arrival in 1881 spurred growth, with towns like Ramona, Wentworth, and Winfred emerging.<ref name="Robinson" /> By 1880, the county’s population reached 2,657.<ref name="HistorySD" />

Agriculture drove economic progress in the 1870s and 1880s, and Madison became a commercial hub with businesses like the Lake County Flouring Mill (opened 1881), newspapers such as the Madison Sentinel (1879), and the Madison Normal School (1883).<ref name="Robinson" />

Geography

The terrain of Lake County consists of rolling hills, with the area devoted to agriculture. A tributary of the East Fork Vermillion River flows south-southeastward through the lower western part of the county, and Buffalo Creek flows southeastward from the central part of the county, leaving the county near its southeast corner.<ref name="LCSD">Template:Cite web</ref> The terrain generally slopes to the south, although high points (ca. 1,814' ASL) are found on the north and south boundary lines and points between.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Lake County has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (2.1%) is water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Lakes

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Protected areas

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Lake Herman State Park
Walker's Point State Recreation Area

Major highways

Adjacent counties

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Brookings County - northeast
Moody County - east
Minnehaha County - southeast
McCook County - southwest
Miner County - west
Kingsbury County - northwest

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Demographics

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2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 11,059 people, 4,576 households, and 2,804 families residing in the county.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 5,658 housing units.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 11,200 people, 4,483 households, and 2,814 families in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 5,559 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 96.2% white, 0.7% Asian, 0.7% American Indian, 0.5% black or African American, 0.8% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.6% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 50.7% were German, 20.6% were Norwegian, 12.4% were Irish, 6.6% were English, 6.2% were Dutch, 5.0% were Danish, and 5.0% were American.

Of the 4,483 households, 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.2% were non-families, and 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.88. The median age was 39.9 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,606 and the median income for a family was $57,753. Males had a median income of $36,370 versus $25,898 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,447. About 6.5% of families and 12.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.8% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.